A Tale that Wasn't Right
by Alan Bates
Summary: When the Tiny Bronco is shot down, things begin to undwind quite differently for AVALANCHE
1. 1 Start Me Up

Disclaimer: This is the only disclaimer that will appear in this story so pay attention. I don't own any of the characters, places, or anything else that appears in this story. Those are the property of SQUARE-ENIX and have been used without permission. No ownership is stated or implied.

With that said, let's move on to the story.

Chapter One: Start Me Up

Cid Highwind was a former member of both the Shin-ra Air Force and the Space Committee. About a week ago, he met up with a group of yahoos that called themselves AVALANCHE. Together they stole off in Tiny Bronco, a small plane of Cid's that the Shin-ra had also wanted.

Cid had gradually started to fit in with the group. It wasn't easy for him to put up with most people, let alone make friends. Still, for the most part they seemed like good people, who knew what they were doing, so he had decided to tag along for the ride. Besides, he was sick and tired of the Shin-ra's empty promises to restart the space program.

Prior to him hooking up with AVALANCHE, the Shin-ra had all but severed contact with him, only calling him when they needed something. He couldn't even get funds to keep the Space Shuttle in shape. Everything that he did was pulled out of the towns funds or his own pocket. Even thinking about them right now, made his blood boil.

He stared at the fuel pumps to the Tiny Bronco. They were shot. Literally. Cid didn't even have enough parts to rig it, much less fix the thing.

"Shit-fuckin' stupid piece of junk!" he yelled, flinging his tools to the ground. He left the plane and started walking from the beaches of Costa del Sol back to the rooms that his companions had rented, cussing not so silently to himself and wiping the grease from his hands on the old pilot jacket he wore. 

He'd already spent most of the night trying to fix the damage to the plane. The bullets had punched holes in quite a few important parts. If it had gone either a half an inch to the right or left, they would have been fine. But the punctured on of the main valves in the fuel pumps. It was futile even working on it. Since the Tiny Bronco was mostly custom built by hand, their weren't even any replacement parts.

"Some fuckin' mechanic I am" he cursed to himself. "Can't fix a damned plane that I put together myself in the first place. Some good I do here. That made Cid even madder thinking it. The whole reason AVALANCHE had sought him out was for the plane and now it was little more than a glorified boat. 

"Shit."

Impatiently he stomped through the building and threw open the door to Cloud's room. "Got good news and bad news," he announced reaching into his pocket for a smoke. It took him a few seconds to realize that there was a possibility Cloud may not have been alone in his room, or decent, or possibly both. When his eyes caught up with his brain, he just barely caught Cloud, alone, starring intently at his hand. It was too dark inside the room for Cid to tell why. Cloud shoved his hand into his pants pocket as soon as he noticed Cid standing there.

"What the...?" Cid muttered to himself noticing Cloud's glove laying on the bed. Cid had never seen him without it. Even the bandages that normally peeked out from under them lay curled on the bed. There was no blood on them to indicate a wound. Cloud looked up at Cid with cold eyes.

"You didn't see this," Cloud said bluntly. At first the pilot was speechless, then his hardened attitude kicked back in. He didn't much care for anyone trying to intimidate him. Still, he knew it would be better to play the part of the pal than to get brash, at least this time it would.

"Mind telling me how that happened?" Cid plucked a cigarette from his pocket. Thinking a minute he pulled another out and offered it to Cloud. Worth a shot, he figured.

"No thanks," Cloud replied turning his head back to look at his bandages. "I heard those things aren't good for you". After a brief moment of silence he continued to talk about what he believed Cid had seen. "I'm not sure how it happened," Cloud paused. "No, That's not exactly right. What I mean is I can't remember. I just had it one day." Cid gave him a clueless look.

With his free hand, Cloud picked up the glove and soon it and the hand holding it went into the pocket as well. "Excuse me for a minute here." Cloud apologized. Cid watched as Cloud's hands both wriggled around his pocket before they emerged gloved. He then put the arm guard back in place and clenched and unclenched his hand a few times. "Much better."

"Nobody else here knows about this. I prefer they didn't. Now what were you about to say?" By now, Cid had completely forgotten what he came in there for.

"How's the Bronco?" Cloud asked him noticing the blank expression. 

"Ah yeah, yeah, the Bronco. Tiny Bronco." Cid inhaled deeply and blew smoke across the room, "Well in words of one syllable, it's shit. I mean, we can still use it fer getting around in the water like we do, and I'm not sure how long it can hold there either, but it ain't gonna fly. 'sides, even if it did, then what? I mean, it was built for two people, I could squeeze four o' us in 'em but we got a good deal more than that." Cloud's shoulders slumped as Cid continued ranting.

"Listen, we don't have the slightest clue where the Temple of Ancients is. We could spend months searching for it. We need an aerial view."

Cid tried to smile mischievously. "That's the good news. I know where we can get an actual airship, not just this stupid glider." Cloud jumped up of his bed and slapped his Buster Sword to the sheath on his back.

"Then let's get going," Cloud exclaimed. Cid hated to ruin his enthusiasm. He so rarely saw the young man express himself this way.

"What? Ya' figure it's just buried under the sand somewhere? Shin-ra's got it. That's the bad news. We go blastin' inta' there they'll tear us ta' bloody fuckin' pieces. Just might anyway. Probably best if we make the run with half the team. I figure, and stop me if I'm wrong on this one, but me, Vincent, and the stuffed toy got the best got the best chances of getting in there. Since at one point or another all o' us worked there."

"Cait Sith was Shin-ra?" Cloud puzzled. He couldn't picture that talking cat working for a no-nonsense organization like that.

"Yeah, he ain't said nothing, might be ashamed or some such, but I saw quite a few company labels on some of his junk." Cid waved his arms a bit, "You know, weapons and crap. Anyway, It'll be a help even if he knows next at' nothing."

"Seems like you've planned this all out already. But you did say you could get four in the Bronco. Take Yuffie, too." Cid almost spit his cigarette out when Cloud gave the suggestion.

"Yer kiddin' right?" Cid coughed at him. Cloud sighed.

"She is good at what she does. Don't let her attitude or personality fool you."

Cid rested his arm on Clouds shoulder as if talking to an old pal. "If you're worried about us not having enough man power, I'll take Barret."

"Why him? I mean I can understand not wanting Red XIII and myself, but Barret? Why not Aeris or Tifa?" Cid had to stop himself from laughing out loud. Everyone but Cloud had noticed how the two women fawned over him.

Cid had his reasons. He wanted say, "I picked Barret so that you and those two chicks that are always after you can maybe finally sort things out with each other. This is a beach resort, ya' know. At the very least, maybe seeing either one of them in one o' them skimpy little swimsuits the girls nowadays like to wear will be enough to jar through even your thick brain-dead skull!"

What he actually said was "I got my reasons. Just figured I'd run it by you first. You bein' boss and all."

"Go for it."

"Thanks, I'll go tell 'em." Cid turned to leave.

"Cid"

"Whut?"

"It's only five in the morning. Let them sleep a bit longer."

Cid flushed. "Yeah, alright." He took one more look at Cloud's gloved hand. Probably lookin' at one o' them scars he got or something'. No biggie, Cid half heartily whispered to himself. Not that he believed it.

Coming Next Chapter: Another Day in Paradise


	2. 2 Another Day in Paradise

(Refer to chapter 1 for the disclaimer.)

Chapter Two: Another Day in Paradise

Less than an hour after Cid had confronted Cloud, Tifa had awoken, dressed, and headed for the shoreline. At this early hour, the beach was barren. The coming sunrise would be hers alone to watch, she thought.

As she sat staring out over the sea, she didn't notice Aeris approach and sit down in the sand by her side. Tifa continued gazing at the waves, oblivious to her company, until Aeris spoke.

"I didn't figure you for an early riser." Tifa looked back at her as Aeris spoke. While Tifa had dressed completely before heading out, Aeris obvious wasn't as concerned about her appearance. She had left her hair down and uncombed instead of the usual twist. Her heavy boots, metal bracelets and light jacket were missing from her normal ensemble as well. Sitting there in nothing but a loosely buttoned and sleeveless pink dress, Tifa couldn't help but think it made her look much younger than her twenty two years.

"Honestly, I'm not sure how I even pulled myself out of bed at this hour. What about yourself?" Tifa said, smiling pleasantly.

"All this traveling has worn me down, but normally, when I was back home anyway, I'd always get up to watch the sunrise." Aeris looked to the sky as she spoke. "It just makes me feel good knowing that whatever happened yesterday, today is fresh and full of hope." They both smiled looking out over the water waiting for the light of day.

Tifa had awoken in a depressed state of mind this morning and left her room to be away from the others. Still, Despite her original intent, she was glad Aeris had found her. If anyone could lift her spirits, she could. Tifa often thought the only reason such a vastly different group were even able to function together, was because of her cheery optimism. Not that Tifa would ever admit it to her.

It wasn't because they weren't friends. Far from it. They had actually become best friends in the short amount of time they had known each other. They often gossiped and laughed about anything that caught their minds.

And often what caught their minds was their team leader Cloud. They had both fallen for him and fallen hard. 

Tifa had known Cloud since childhood. Sort of. She couldn't remember exactly at what point in her life that she met him. Most likely, she had known him much longer than she had actually noticed him. He hadn't exactly came over to play much when they were younger. And for some reason, one day he left. Her last childhood memory of him was when they met under the stars. He told her he was going to leave to join SOLDIER.

Tifa had made him promise to come back to her. That had happened over seven years ago. Two years later, when delegates from SOLDIER were sent to their town, he didn't come. Nor did he return when the town was burned to the ground. It was only a few months ago, did he finally turn up again.

She had found him nearly collapsed and delirious at the old train station. She took him back to the bar she live and worked out of and nursed him back to health. During that short period, she found out that he quit SOLDIER. Despite still wearing the uniform, he never spoke of what happened during his enlistment except in vague general statements. He also mentioned that these days he was hiring himself out as a mercenary Tifa was desperate to keep him around. With a bit of haggling, she talked Barret into hiring him.

It was on that particular mercenary job that Cloud and Aeris had met for the first time. He had treated her kindly despite the hurry he was in he even bought a flower from her. Initially, she couldn't help but notice similarities between him and her first and only other boyfriend, a man Zack. The second time they met, was when Cloud had crashed through the roof of the old abandoned church she grew flowers in.

As he lay there, she took time to actually look at him. Somehow, even in his damaged unconscious condition, he had the look of someone that had seen much pain and yet was still very naïve about the world. She helped revive him, thankful for her natural healing abilities. They would be further tied together through both accident and coincidence. As time moved on, Aeris grew to the realization that Cloud wasn't much like her old boyfriend at all. While he tended to be more serious, there was also intensity, caring, and resolve in him that Zack had never shown.

The two women's similar feelings were part of the reason why Tifa wouldn't tell Aeris how much she thought the team needed her. While they showed no aversion toward each other normally, neither would give the other the advantage if they could avoid it. They were more than friends. Each viewed the other as almost a sister, but one day Cloud would have to choose between them. Despite how much they may have liked each other, neither wanted to loose him. That's what Tifa had woken up thinking about.

"Tifa, I think we have to talk." Aeris broke the silence between them.

"Sure. You know you can always talk to me." Tifa shook the heavy weight of memory from her. After a slight pause she continued. "I'm sorry. I'm not being very good company, am I?" It wasn't until that point that Tifa noticed the uncharacteristic sadness in her friend. She made a guess about why. "It's about Cloud, isn't it?" Often they would joke about him, their rivalry, or even light-heartily teasing each other in front of him, but never did they come out and discuss him. 

"Tifa, I know this may seem strange but asking you this, and if you don't want to talk that would be alright, too." 

"You can ask. Come on." I bothered Tifa to see her like this. Aeris was supposed to be the one you could always count on to be happy.

"Do you think he likes me?" The suddenness of the question stopped both of them for a moment. She had touched untread ground. They had never seriously talked about their feeling toward him.

"I'm sorry," Aeris quickly added after seeing the discomfort in her friend.

"Don't be. This was coming. Sooner of later … Yeah. I think he does." Tifa forced herself to say ever word. Still, no comfort showed in the Cetra's features.

"Then why doesn't he ever say anything to me? Has he ever told you he cares?"

Tifa couldn't recall anytime that since he left to join SOLDIER that he said he cared for her. In fact, she couldn't remember him ever mentioning he cared about anyone. Sure he'd shown concern about people, but there was a difference.

"...no..." the word was weak Tifa's throat.

"...and you've know him longer. Honestly, I've always thought he cared more about you. You seem to have a history together." Aeris rested her hand on Tifa shoulder not sure whether for her own support or her friends.

"Well what do you see in him?" Tifa said trying to come to Cloud's defense and maybe change to the subject to a more cheerful one.

"Hope."

Tifa mood lightened a little bit. "I think I know what you mean." She said, smiling at her friend.

Aeris didn't smile back. "Maybe you do, a little bit, but I don't think you can completely." Aeris drew her legs up to her chest practically grasping herself into a ball. "I'm all-alone in this world, the last of my kind. When I die, that's it. No more Cetra. Living in the slums doesn't help much either. It only makes things harder. I try. I really do. I try to make the place better, I put on a little pink dress make myself look all pretty and go out to sell flowers for a single gil. Do you want to know why I do that?"

Tifa didn't answer the question. Aeris didn't expect her to and she continued talking. "Flowers make the world prettier to look at and I sell them because people don't want them for free. I'd like to just be able to hand them to everybody, I'd like to see flowers everywhere, but people wouldn't want them then. They don't understand why anyone would give them something. Not even something as simple and innocent as a flower." she sighed "Yet, everyone who buys one walks away feeling just a little bit better and for a few minutes. The world is a little bit brighter. Then they force themselves back to their old mindsets. They're left wondering why they even bothered. I don't want to live in that world anymore. I don't want to live that way. I want something better, Tifa. Some place better." She paused for a few seconds. "Excuse me, this is hard to say."

"That's okay if you don't want to talk about it." Tifa could feel the pain in her friend and didn't want to hear anymore. It's not fair, she thought isn't anyone allowed to be innocent and at peace anymore. She did not, however, say this, nor did she interrupt Aeris's much needed confession.

"When I saw Cloud, I could tell that he was the same way. He wanted something more. Even the first time I saw him. I think…. Maybe….. we understand each other. At least I hope we do... Maybe I'm just being silly... I didn't really mean to tell you any of this." She paused for a minute. "and don't tell Cloud, okay? He seems troubled enough without me adding to it. You know how he gets. He'd probably just think I was using him. I'm not sure I could convince him I really do ... care." She stopped herself for saying 'really do love him', both women knew what she meant.

"Hey, we're friends right? You got my word. Besides, I'm pretty much in the same boat. The big difference is, you were actually trying to make the world better. I can't even do that. I ran a bar, remember?" Aeris actually smiled and let loose the grip she had on her own legs. "All I've been able to do is hook up with a group and go on commando raids." There was a brief bitter laugh from her "We both want him to take us out of this place to somewhere better."

"Is that I guess that makes him our White Knight, doesn't it?" Aeris asked.

"Would you prefer calling him Prince Charming?" 

"You give him too much credit." An image of Cloud dressed in fancy regal regalia shot into their minds. The idea seemed so absurd it caused both young women to laugh. When they stopped laughing, Aeris continued on. Her voice was still troubled but not as bad as it had been previously.

"Seriously, I just want you to know that if something happens to me, I want you to make him happy. And I want you to tell me the same." At this point she leaned in and rested her weight on Tifa. Tifa didn't mind.

"Aeris? Are you alright? What brought this on al of a sudden?"

The flower girl bowed her head. Her flowing hair hid her face.

"I don't know. Sometimes I can talk with the Ancients...and sometimes...every once in a while, I can see things."

"You're scaring me, Aeris. What things? What did you see?"

"Maybe it was just a bad dream. I hope it was. But it didn't seem like a dream. My dreams are always crystal clear and bright. This was foggy, like it hadn't fully cemented itself yet. Maybe it might not happen. Anyway, I saw the group standing somewhere. I don't know where it was but it seemed liked I should know it. They were mourning someone."

"Cloud?" Tifa's heart raced at even the implication that he could be killed. Aeris looked at her as if her own heart would break.

"No. Not Cloud. It was one of us. You or me. I'm sure of that much. I woke myself up before I could learn. I didn't want to know." Aeris paused. She dreaded continuing her story but knew she had to. "I saw the rest of the guys and they were heartbroken. But ... but who ever it was that tried to comfort him, Cloud I mean, was pushed away.," She choked. "but that wasn't the worst. He wasn't crying, Tifa! He wasn't crying for them! … and who ever was left he was just pushing away." Aeris was trembling now. "He doesn't love us, Tifa. Either of us."

Tifa shook her head. "It was just a dream, Aeris. Besides he cares, he just can't say anything. He's the team leader right now. He doesn't have time to follow his heart. He knows that if he chooses one of us, it'll break the other one, and right now, he needs us both to be strong."

"I know you love him. I do too, but do you really believe that, Tifa? Do you think he cares for either of us at all?"

"I want to, but it seems that there's just something wrong with him. No, that's not the word. I don't want to say wrong but it's the only word that I can think of." Tifa sighed. Aeris's curiosity was peaked more than she cared to show.

"Really? Tifa, you've known him longer. What do you mean? What's wrong?"

I don't know. Sometimes ... sometimes he seems like a different person completely. Something's troubling him."

The two women sat in silence, their conversation taken to past the limits they had set. Neither of them wanted to think too much about what they had spoken of.

Coming Next Chapter: Leaving Town


	3. 3 Leaving Town

(Refer to chapter 1 for the disclaimer.)

**Chapter Three: Leaving Town  
**  
The sun reflected off the water. Aeris and Tifa were still sitting on the beach when Cid, Cait Sith, Barret, and Vincent walked past wearing full battle gear and carrying their weapons in hand. The two women starred at them curiously. The men kept on walking as if they hadn't seen them.

"What's going on?" Tifa asked. Barret turned, took a few steps towards them, and kneeled down in the sand next to where they were sitting. The rest of the men kept walking.

"Nothing to worry about, we're just got to break into the Shin-ra and snatch an airship," He said downplaying the serious and potentially suicidal nature of the mission.

"What? Are you guys nuts?" Tifa got to her feet and was looking down at him now, but only barely due to his great size. Barret glanced over his shoulder and motioned the other guys to hold up. Cait Sith walked over to join them.

"It's all quite simple really. We need an airship, so we're going to take one. I haven't told you this, but I know a man on the inside that can help us," Cait Sith proclaimed. He paused for a moment letting what he had said sink in. "Gee, when I come out and say it like that, it does sound a bit wonky."

"But what about the rest of us?" Aeris inquired. Her soft voice contrasted with the harsh tone she spoke in.

"We figured it was prob'ly safer if you people stayed 'ere. Us….well them anyway, all know there way around the place. I'm workin' as backup." 

"You've lost your mind. I knew it," Tifa said with a dry disapproving tone. Barret shrugged slightly. He wasn't going to object or disagree. 

"Don't give me those sad faces," Cait Sith said jumping down from the stuffed Moogle he controlled. Here, I'll read your fortunes. Both of yours. If that doesn't cheer you up, then I'm not the greatest fortune telling magical cat you've ever met!" He pulled out a strange deck of cards and then had each woman draw five of them. After they had picked their cards, he took Tifa's from her and looked. His cat eyes grew wide. "Um, let's see yours first." He said handing Tifa back her cards and taking Aeris's. "Well this is odd," He muttered.

"What? What does it say."

"Never mind, these are just for fun anyway. Nothing big here."

"Please?" Aeris said giving him her best sad-girl face. Tifa had to turn away to stop from giggling. Sometimes she wished she could turn off and on the look like Aeris could.

"Okay, but remember. This probably doesn't mean anything. Tifa first; It says something like 'a person you never expect to see again will return and bring both pain and joy'. Odd isn't it?" He handed her back her cards and took Aeris's. "Now this, this isn't like anything I have seen before either." He paused, and gave Aeris a huge cheesy smile. "You've got a way of doing that to me, ya' know."

"Um… Sorry?" Aeris said for lack of anything better to say.

"It says you will … well…It says one thing, then it says another thing at the exact same time. It's like your path splits. There's some other stuff, too, but it's even more confusing. …I really have this lightest what this means. Seriously. I must have messed it up. It's like you have two tracks going on at the same time."

" 's crap anyway" Barret says getting up and dusting the sand off his knees.

Vincent, who had never walked over to join the group, spoke to them from where he stood. "If we do not meet again, it was ….pleasant…. knowing all of you."

"There ya' go bein' all morbid and shit again," Cid grumbled at the man before turning back towards the girls. "Hey Aeris, Cloud told me that ya' always wanted to ride one of those babies. Don't figure we can let ya' down. Don't worry 'bout us." After saying that, he turned and began walking towards the Tiny Bronco. The other followed him leaving Aeris and Tifa alone again.

Cloud woke up to the sound of someone banging loudly on his door. On instinct, he reached for his gloves. It took him a few seconds in his drowsy state to realize he was still wearing them. The knocking continued, getting louder and louder as he got up and walked to the door. As he opened it, Tifa jumped right up in his face.

"What do you think you're doing? Why did the guys leave this morning and just when were you going to tell the rest of us?" she yelled at him. Cloud backed up to give her room to rant, but she stepped up every time he stepped back. Eventually he stepped back, tripped over the bed, and fell.

"Listen," Cloud said with as much authority as he could from his awkward position lying on the ground. "Right now we're in a pickle. All we know is that Rufus said he was going after Sephiroth in the Temple of Ancients. That's it. We don't know where the temple is. We don't know what to do when we get there. We don't know anything." Cloud struggled to get off his back and onto his feet. Aeris, whom he hadn't even noticed was in the room, walked over and offered her hand to help him up. Tifa just stood there with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"If you're trying to make a point, would you just get it over with?" Tifa made a quick motion for Aeris got get back over next to her. She hoped Cloud didn't see it. A quick glance confirmed that he hadn't. He didn't he was too busy looking at where he'd scraped his arm when he fell. Tifa whispered to Aeris "We're supposed to be mad at him. Remember?"

"Sorry, I had to," Aeris whispered. "If he had just kept lying there, I think I would have cracked up."

"It was kinda funny seeing him sprawled out like that," Tifa raised her voice back to it's previous level and focused her glare on Cloud again. "You were saying?"

Cloud use a cure potion to damped a scrap of cloth and placed it on his fresh wound. "Yeah, we figured that we could find the temple quicker if we had a view from the air. It was Cid's idea really."

"That's just great! Now you're getting advice from Cid! Remember what happened last time you listened to him?" She altered her voice to the best imitation of Cid she could. "Aww I fig're if dese damned potions are fuckin' good for ya', why not use 'em in the fuckin' cooking. Cure stew. How duh fuck does dat sound?"

"That I remember. I was sick for days. I didn't think it was possible for a cure potion to make you sick." Both of them look back at Aeris. "I'm not really needed for this conversation, am I?" She said sheepishly. Both her companions turned and with the looks they each gave, she knew to keep quite. That's the problem with being the nice one, Aeris though, everybody expects you to be on their side.

"I probably should have told you all about it before they left. I guess it was kinda' dumb."

"You're damned right it was dumb! They left with the Tiny Bronco! What are the rest of us supposed to do while they're off? And what if they don't come back?" Tifa clenched her fists in anger. She wanted to hit something but didn't know what. Her train of thought was interrupted when Aeris placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Don't say that, Tifa. Don't even think any of us will die." The calm in Aeris voice struck her hard. She looked at Aeris apologetically as she thought back to the dream She and Aeris had been discussing earlier. Then she looked back at Cloud.

"I'm sorry. I just lost my temper there for a while. But the question still stands. Now what?"

Cloud stood there for a moment thinking. "Let the others know and we'll talk about my plan at lunch time. Could you two tell them?" 

"Okay," Aeris spoke out before Tifa could respond. "but what are you going to be doing?"

Cloud's lips twisted into a smirk. "I'll be thinking up the plan. Give me a while okay?"

Aeris and Tifa walked out the door to leave Cloud alone with his non-existent plan. The women split up to find Yuffie and Red XIII and tell them the news. Assuming that Cloud or Cid hadn't told them already. Tifa slammed her first against the wall in anger. How could he split them up like this! And not tell her! 

Honestly, Tifa wasn't upset about being split up. Nor was she bothered by not being included in the plan. What bothered her was not being involved at all. Part of her missed the old days of AVALANCHE. Back before Cloud, Aeris, and the rest of the new people, there was an intense feeling of teamwork. Everybody was involved in planning things out. These days, it just seemed that they were all being pulled along without any control. It wasn't Cloud fault either. It was like they were playing catch up with Sephiroth. Worse, the were playing catch up with Sephiroth while the Shin-ra played catch up with them. 

"Yuffie get out here!" she yelled at the door to Yuffie's room. At least she could count on Yuffie. Yuffie was always a good person to let frustrations out on. It was almost like she expected it. There was no response from inside. She really wasn't sure if she had expected that girl to answer or not. It would be just like her to ignore somebody for no other reason than to make them irate. Tifa drew back to pound on the door and nearly lost her balance when it came open with one hit. Not only was Yuffie was nowhere to be seen, she hadn't even bothered to close her door. "Things just keep getting better and better," she muttered bitterly.

As Tifa started to leave the building to look for her, she was nearly trampled by Yuffie rushing back inside with a huge grin on her face.

"Whoa. What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Tifa spoke after the initial shock of almost being ran over went away. She made a mental note to herself that next time, Aeris would find Yuffie and she would get Red.

No. On second thought, (or what that be third?) Cloud could go get them both.

"Got some juicy news for Cloud." Yuffie practically sang the words.

"Cloud really doesn't need to be disturbed right now. He's kinda' worked himself into a mess. Just go ahead and tell me and I can let him know later."

"Uh-uh. I want to tell him this one. He's going to be dancing for joy when he hear this one." From the look in Yuffie's eyes, Tifa could obviously tell she was planning something. Yuffie just didn't get this excited when other people were happy. There had to be something in it for her. 

"Spill it, Yuffie"

"No way! Remember how Aeris said she was able to get Cloud to protect her in for a date. I want to know what I could get out of the guy for this!" Yuffie said in her most taunting voice.

"Cloud doesn't like really like you that way, you know that. Besides you're too young for him."

"Why does everyone say I'm too young all the time? Is it my fault that most of you are getting old?" There was a pause in the conversation. Yuffie wanted a reaction from Tifa but Tifa had already gotten used to her and wasn't falling for it. Instead there was silence until Yuffie chose to end it. "Fine. Be that way. But I'm still not giving this information up without getting something for it. So what'll ya' give me?"

"You're not getting my materia," Yuffie looked at her strangely. Was she that transparent? Quickly she blurted out the next thing that popped into her head Hoping that Tifa believed it was the first idea she had.

"Not that. How about a sparing partner? You're the only other person here that even close to my skill level. If I'm going to stay on top as the world's best female ninja, I have to keep up the training, ya' know and a second rate sparring partner is better than none."

Tifa looked at her with a smile. "You're on!" She hadn't really had much time to train either. Not since Biggs had been killed.

Cloud glanced out the window. From only a short distance way, a large group of people were gathering in a circle. He tried his best not to pay any attention to it and keep working on this plans for the team. So far he'd come up with several ideas but every single one of them was horrible and he knew it. Not to mention, The whooping and hollering from the crowd did little to aid in his concentration.

Finally he gave up and went outside to see the cause of all the commotion. He pushed himself though the crowd the best he could. The last thing He expected to see was a hand to hand fight between Tifa and Yuffie. The two female martial artists circled each other smiling.

Tifa threw a right cross that Yuffie ducked. Quickly, Tifa sidestepped in an attempt to get the advantage again and followed up with an axe kick. A part of Cloud wasn't really surprised. There were two things that would draw this kind of attention hot women and a fight. This was both.

Cloud thought for a moment about stepping in, but decided against it. It looked they the two women were having fun and it was interesting to watch. Yuffie obviously had the speed advantage and she dodged most of Tifa's attacks with ease, ducking under and flipping away from almost all of Tifa's blows. Still from what he saw, most of Yuffie's attacks were light and didn't seems to be slowing Tifa down in the slightest. The few hits Tifa did get in though, seemed to take quite a bit off out of the other girl.

"Come to watch the fight or break it up?" Cloud looked around to both sides before it donned on him to look down. Red XIII was speaking to him.

"What's exactly is going on here anyway?"

"A contest of sorts. I'm not entirely sure myself. I think they're actually fighting over something, but I don't know what that is either. You know, sometimes the behavior of you humans can be so confusing."

"Tell me about it. You wouldn't happen to have any cure materia handy? We might need it after this is over and I only carry attack."

"Some, not much. But we shouldn't been needing much. If they were serious about hurting each other, Yuffie would be using her weap…." Red XIII stopped dead as he watched Yuffie flip into a handstand and from there she kicked with both feet spinning wildly. The move resembled break dancing more than ninjitsu. "Why doesn't she move like that on missions?" 

"Who knows? I don't think I'll ever understand her. Listen, I'm going to find Aeris. It looks like we might need her healing abilities. Call it a hunch." Cloud looked over at the fight one more time as he walked away. Tifa flip kicked Yuffie knocking her flat into the sand but not before Yuffie was able to grab her belt and throw her off balance. For a brief moment Tifa seems to hover in the air before landing and as soon as she landed, she dropped to the ground in a howl of pain.

"Back off! Get Back!" Cloud repeated as he pushed through the crowd to get to the girls. Yuffie stood there frozen in both shock and confusion. "Are you alright?" Cloud bent down to ask Tifa. Her teeth were gritted tightly, as if she was fighting back any further outbursts of pain. Yet she still nodded her head that she was fine. She had survived worse than this before. "What is it? What's wrong?" Cloud asked still in a panicked tone of voice. Tifa pointed down towards her feet. "Help me get her shoes off!" Cloud turned to yell at Yuffie.

"What? Oh yeah...sure" Yuffie was both embarrassed that she was still standing there and afraid she was going to get blamed. She ran over to her sparring partner and started to help with the shoes and socks.

Cloud stopped before he even got one of them unlaced. Tifa's ankle was twisted at an unnatural angle. It had already begun to swell and was beginning to turn a purplish shade.

"She must have slipped when she landed" Yuffie offered as an explanation. "Stupid sand," Part of her was hoping that she wouldn't be getting blamed for this, but she still felt rather guilty. "Think we should get hr back to the room?" It was a dumb question and Yuffie knew it as soon as she had said it. Cloud's cold glare confirmed her thoughts.

"Can you walk?" Cloud asked her. Tifa violently shook her head no. Yuffie sighed. She felt much better about her dumb question now.

Cloud lifted Tifa up to her feet and placed one of her arms around his shoulder for support. Yuffie catching the clue went around and got her other arm. The two of them served as Tifa's crutches as they took her back to inside and laid her on an empty bed.

First aid was never something that had never really stuck in Cloud's mind during his training. It just never seemed to interest him for some reason. He was young at the time, and the idea of people getting hurt wasn't a reality for him then. Now, he was regretting not paying attention. He didn't know what he was supposed to do but he knew he should do something.

"Yuffie go get me any cure materia that you can and a cold damp cloth." He really had no clue what the cloth was for, but he remembered hearing something about putting a cloth on swelling somewhere. 

Cloud tried to comfort Tifa and assure her it would be okay. He tried his hardest, but really he didn't even know if she was actually listening to his rambling words. When Yuffie returned Cloud placed the wet cloth onto Tifa's injury. He then tried to use the materia to cure the wound. The coloring started to return to a more natural tone. Cloud lifted the cloth slightly to see how it was coming along. As he did, Tifa screamed in pain.

"wh…wh..what…what's happ…happen...happening?" Aeris gasped for breath. Cloud hadn't even noticed that she entered the room. Wherever she had been, she came running.

"Tifa hurt herself in a fight." Cloud didn't want to take his eyes of her and Tifa and started thrashing wildly. Cloud and Aeris both grabbed her to trey to hold her down, but to little effect.

"What's wrong?" Aeris cried out. Cloud wasn't sure whether she was trying to talk to him or to Tifa but he answered anyway.

"I don't know!" Tifa's arm squirmed out of his grasp and nailed him square in the jaw. "Get her arm!"

Suddenly Tifa stopped crying out. It took Cloud several seconds to realize that she had stopped struggling as well.

"And nobody thought of this." Yuffie haughtily smiled tossing a sleep materia up into the air and catching it again. "Aren't you all supposed to be the bright ones? You could have saved your selves quite a bit of trouble. Pffffftt. Old people."

"And you could have saved us quite a bit of trouble by not fighting Tifa to begin with." Cloud looked around and saw Red XII standing in the doorway. Red was able to answer his next question before it was even asked.

"I came in with Aeris. It's jut that I didn't think I'd be much help at the time so I stayed out of the way." Cloud gave Red a thumbs up sign. He was still recovering from the excitement and couldn't find the word to speak.

Aeris walked over and kneeled down beside the sleeping Tifa's swollen ankle. "It looks pretty bad."

"We where hoping you could help out with it." Cloud's voice was kind of low. He wasn't sure why he felt awkward asking her to help Tifa, but he did.

"I'm not a doctor, Cloud." Aeris said. Yuffie gave Cloud a 'told-you-so' look but it ceased when Red growled at her. "But I'll do what I can." Aeris put her hands on Tifa's ankle and pressed slightly. After a moment she got up and walked back over to Cloud. "Did you do anything to her?"

"Ummm. ….yeah. It's kinda' my fault…." the ninja girl kicked the ground as she spoke.

"That's not what I meant. Did you do anything to try to heal her?"

"We used a low level cure materia on her. That's when she started thrashing." Cloud told her.

"That would explain it, I'm afraid. You see, it's broken. You can't heal broken bone without having them set back into place first. That's something I learned that the hard way."

"What?" Yuffie was confused.

"I think I get what she's saying. Grandpa taught me a little bit about medicine and healing. I've just never really had any use for treating humans before," Red ambled over to Tifa and nudged his wet nose against her hand, which was dangling of the bed.

"Let's get to the point here. Is she going to be okay?" Cloud tried to bring them al back to the same page. Aeris had been paying close attention to him the whole time and couldn't tell whether his concern was that of a teammate or of something else.

"I can heal her up but it's going to take a few days for her to fully recover. During that time, she'll need her foot braced most of the day. A couple times a day she'll need the braces taken off and her ankle rotated to keep the bones from healing the wrong way. She'll still limp for a few days. Probably"

"Sounds like you know a lot about this. I thought you said you weren't a doctor," Cloud said running his hand through his hair and wiping the sweat away. He wasn't sure he could remember all of that.

"Trial and error mostly," Aeris explained with a look of shame in her face.

"Meaning you ….oh… Ouch!" It had finally sucked into Yuffie's head what the flower girl had been talking about.

"More or less. Let's just say a few of the people I've tried to help would have been better off without it."

"Yeah. Real reassuring," Yuffie chimed in again. 

"Can we not talk about that right now? Just try to help her the best you can," Cloud again going directly for the point. Maybe it was her imagination, but his voice did seem a little bit colder than it should have been.

"After someone puts the bones back, I can." There was some mild hesitation in Aeris's voice. Cloud nodded his head in agreement and Aeris got up and started out the door.

"I'm sorry did I miss something?" Cloud asked as she exited. "Does anyone have any idea what she's talking about this time?" Yuffie shrugged at his question.

"I do. I think." Feel the wound," Red XIII instructed. Cloud was hesitant to do anything that might further aggravate her wound. "okay….and?" he questioned the beast before removing his hand from her ankle.,

"Does it feel broken?" Cloud felt around the wound more. He really ahd no clue what a broken bone should have felt likie, but he was sure this wasn't it. The materia had already started to heal it. "The problem we have here, if I understand Aeris correctly, is that her bones started to heal before they were realigned."

"Yeah, dummy. You should have know that would happen." Yuffie scoffed at Cloud, quick to place the blame elsewhere. She stopped as the two men in the room both glared at her. "What? What'd I say?" She was getting more than tired of getting that look from people.

"So I'm going to have to…" Cloud didn't continue what he was going to say. He gulped hard and looked at Tifa. "Sorry," he whispered to her.

Her bones snapped easily under his mako enhanced strength, so easily that it was scary. Yuffie, Aeris, and Red XIII had seen in battle. Even from the way he carried his sword, it was obvious he was much stronger than a normal human, still, none of them had even considered what that kind of strength could do to a person.

"I guess it's Aeris's show from here," he sighed. It was bad enough that he couldn't do more for her but adding to that, what he had done actually made things worse. That was a bit much for him to handle. "Come here, Yuffie. I want some explanation for what happened." She jumped up from where she was sitting and walked over to him. Together they exited the room leaving Tifa there with Red XIII and Aeris.

When they were outside and out of hearing distance from even Red XIII's animal senses, Cloud turned to Yuffie. The look he gave her said he wasn't playing. "Now what was that all about?"

"Ah…mmm…I found out something that I wanted to tell you but I was teasing Tifa about it and she didn't want me to tell you because she did so I said I'd fight her for it." Yuffie's voice slowed down and she gulped. "and how was I supposed to know she'd slip in the sand and break her foot?" Cloud crossed his arm but he didn't say anything. "okay…sheeesh. Don't be like that. The guy who runs the Golden Saucer, what's his name, you know runs around in his sparkly underwear all day…"

"Dio."

"Yeah him. He recently got a hold of some kind of entrance key thingee to the Temple of Ancients."

"Yuffie?"

"….yeah?"

"You did good," She smiled at his compliment. "except for the whole thing with Tifa." Yuffie and Cloud walked back into the building. Aeris was leaving Tifa's room. She was carrying the still damp cloth Cloud had used earlier. "How is she?" Cloud asked the healer.

"Why don't you go ask her yourself?" Aeris's was enough to tell him that everything was alright.

Inside the room, Tifa's foot was propped up and held in a makeshift brace. "Hi," she greeted them weakly, trying to downplay her condition as much as possible. Yuffie took her lead and ran with it.

"Hey. You're looking good. So how is everything?"

Cloud walked over and knelt down beside Tifa. "Well it feels like my ankle's broke. Otherwise, I'm fine." She gave them all a lop sided grin intended to lift their spirits.

"Yuffie explained everything to me," he told her.

"Guess that gives you the plan you need." 

"I guess it does."

"What are you two talking about?' Red XIII enquired.

"I'm with Red," the Cetra said petting the creature. "I have no clue what's going on."

"Okay….I really hate splitting us up anymore than I have to but I need someone to go with me to the Golden Saucer." Cloud started.

"Yuffie says that Dio has gotten some kind of key to get into the Temple of Ancients. We're going to go get it but someone here has to stay with Tifa. Will she need any more," Cloud waved his hands though the air mimicking magical gestures "treatments?" Aeris shook her head no. "So one person stays here with Tifa."

"Makes sense," Yuffie said. He had climbed atop a nearby dresses to set down and was kicking her feet back and forth.

"Glad you think so, Yuffie, since you're the one who's going to be staying." Yuffie stopped kicking her feet as he said this. In fact for a few moments it seemed like she stopped breathing.

"What? Oh come on! That's not fair!" Yuffie exclaimed when she caught her breath.

"I could stay here with her. I don't mind." Aeris stepped forward.

"No. Yuffie caused this so she's going to have to be the one who stays here and watches over Tifa." Cloud said looking back and forth between the flower girl and the ninja.

"You sure she's not going to need anymore umm….healing?" Yuffie asked

"I did all I could. Give her a few days and be thankful you have me instead of trying any conventional healings."

"Could you please all stop talking about me like I'm not here." Tifa spoke out. "It's bad enough I'm laid up like this."

"Sorry" Cloud shrugged.

"Yeah, sorry" Yuffie added herself.

"Listen, I don't want to be left here at all, but if I am, I definitely don't want just Yuffie staying here."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Yuffie jumped to her feet.

"Do you want to take care of an injured woman all by yourself?"

"No," she paused for a moment "but I could!"

"We all know you could Yuffie" Cloud decided to humor the girl.

"So how do you plan on getting to the Golden Saucer?" Red redirected the subject.

"Chocobo, I guess. Since we don't have the Bronco or anything." Cloud shrugged.

"That works. Then I could stay here with Yuffie and Tifa. Me and riding chocobos don't go well together." Red stated. Yuffie fought off the laughter as she thought back at the time they had tried to get him on the back of a chocobo. He was draped over the back of one like a saddle bag. In the end he had ended up running along side while the others rode.

Cloud glanced back over to Aeris. "Well…hmmm...You and me then Aeris. I kinda wish Barret was still here, I was hoping for some more muscle. No offense but you just don't strike me as being the greatest backup in the world."

"Gee you really know how to make a girl feel wanted." Aeris pouted. Before Cloud could reply, a pillow hit him in the back of the head. When he turned around, he saw Tifa leaning forward in her bed.

"Apologize Cloud" He couldn't tell whether she was being serious or not.

"Sorry"

"That's better" Tifa smiled.

"Oh it was okay really. I didn't take it the wrong way or anything." Aeris said. Red tried his best not to be seen during all of this and Yuffie just smiled and sat back to watch the show.

"Whatever ... just … let's go Aeris. Mind catching the chocobos while I finish a few things here first?"

"Okay. Oh and be sure to grab my bag by the door too, please." Aeris said as she walked out. Cloud sighed. 

Aeris….of all the people…..it was just going to be him and Aeris.

He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.

**Coming Next Chapter: _The Traveler_**


	4. 4 The Traveler

(Refer to chapter 1 for the disclaimer.)

Chapter Four: the Traveler

"How long have we been riding?" Aeris called out to Cloud.

"Hours." Cloud said as he looked at the positioning of the sun. He had met several people who could tell the time that way but he never figured out how. He just liked people to think he could.

Aeris fidgeted and twisted on the back of her chocobo. She tried her hardest to make herself comfortable but nothing seemed to work. People weren't mean to ride sidesaddle this long, she thought to herself, but what were my options? Hiking my dress too far up? That's not going to happen anytime soon. Not with Cloud around like he is, she told herself. She kicked her chocobo slightly to tell it to speed up and run along side Cloud's bird. Cloud always seemed to pull in front no matter how fast they rode. "Can we stop and rest for a just a minute?" she yelled for him to hear.

"Why?" he yelled back "You alright?"

"Not really. It's not anything serious I just need to stop and rest for a little bit." she yelled again. Cloud pulled the reigns on his chocobo and causing it to immediately halt. She had to slow hers down more gently. As it was, she still nearly expect the chocobo to thrown her considering how poorly she was balanced.

Cloud was tying his chocobo's reigns to a nearby tree when Aeris finally circled around to meet him.

"What's the problem?" he asked.

"No problem really. I just needed to get off for a while. Rest. Stretch my legs. That sort of thing," she realized her explanation probably would sound a bit silly to him so she added a charming smile as she said it.

"I guess there's no harm done. We've still got plenty of time," he held out his arms to help Aeris climb down off her mount. "Make sure you tie it up good. We don't need these things running away on us." He told her as he walked a short distance away. Cloud picked another tree with plenty of shade and leaned up against it to rest himself.

Aeris took off her boots and socks to enjoy the feel of the grass between her toes. With so few places in the slums she would even dare walk barefoot, she enjoyed every chance she had to do so.

She walked down the path little ways and ventured off into the trees that lined the road taking her time to stretch her legs. She even took a few moments to look around for some wildflowers hoping to surprise Cloud with but there was nothing but a few bug eaten blossoms that she didn't care to mess with. When she was finally ready to get back on the road again, she looked back over to Cloud. He'd dozed off under the tree. She smiled and walked over to him, gently nudging him awake.

"Hmmm? Oh sorry." He rubbed his eyes and stood up. "I feel like I haven't had a decent rest in forever. Frankly, the only time I can remember getting one is then you let me sleep in your bed." Cloud felt sort of odd as he said that to her and quickly tried to move the subject along. "I've been a bit grouchy lately." He shrugged as if it was an apology.

"We all have bad nights. To tell you the truth, I didn't really sleep well last night either. Bad dreams."

"I won't ask." Cloud said dusting the grass of his worn SOLDIER uniform. Aeris had wondered several times why he choose to wear the old style uniform. The modern SOLDIER uniforms had armored chest plates and helmets. She remembered Zack complaining about how they were going to have to start wearing them soon before he disappeared. That was years ago. She couldn't help but wonder how long Cloud had been out of SOLDIER. He talked like he left a few weeks ago, but the facts didn't seem to match. 

Maybe they just wear those into battle, Aeris thought, that has to be it.

They each mounted their respective chocobo and took back to the dusty trail.

"You doing alright now?" Cloud asked as he pulled his chocobo up next to hers. He had decided to let her take the lead when they started riding again. At the very least, he could let her set the pace, even if it was a bit slow.

"I'm doing fine," Aeris called back to him. "Although I'll be glad when we can get off these things for a while." Aeris reached up to pet her chocobo "Sorry, didn't mean to call you a thing." Cloud smiled despite himself and pulled back to let Aeris lead along the muddy trail. The trip had been quite uneventful and for an instant Cloud was glad that he had brought Aeris with him. She was definitely the most agreeable person in the group. Red often acted like he had something to prove, Tifa seemed unsure of herself most of the time, and Yuffie well, he didn't even care to think about what traveling alone with her would be like.

As he was thinking this he saw Aeris's chocobo suddenly jerked to the side throwing her in the mud. A land worm shot out from underneath the ground, before Cloud could respond. It thrashed wildly, spraying them both with the gravel from it's tunneling. Cloud glanced over to Aeris to make sure she was okay for a quick second before he charged the creature. She was still moving and didn't seem hurt to bad.

The SOLDIER stood up slightly on the back of his bird as they charged the beast. He readied a slow materia and cast it on his ride before leaping at the worm-beast. The creature slammed against him knocking him to the tough ground. He was back up in seconds charging the worm again. He leaped over and around the cracks that formed in the ground from the creatures small quakes. It had already caught him off guard once and had no intention of letting that happen again.

Cloud ran past the beast slashing lightly against it to test the thickness of its hide. The blade cut its squirming flesh easily. The beast twisted to face its assailant. Cloud was ready. He leapt into the air and brought the full weight of his massive buster sword down on the wild beast neatly chopping it in two.

It thrashed briefly, spraying some blood onto Cloud's clothes and then went limp. Cloud paused to make sure things were over. He wasn't sure if he was waiting for the worm to spring back to life, or another creature to attack. After nothing happened, Cloud quickly cornered his slow moving bird and tied it to a tree. From there he went to check on Aeris.

"Are you alright?" Cloud asked as he helped to lift the Cetra out of the mud.

"I'm not hurt if that's what you mean," she said climbing out of the mud hole "but I'm soaked right down to my unmentionables." She didn't know why she had said that and for a moment she was actually thankful that the mud covered her face so he couldn't se her blushing.

"I've got some bad news. Your Chocobo split when it threw you. The good news is that it dropped your bag." Cloud handed her the bag he had grabbed for her earlier. "You might want to go change and get yourself cleaned up if you can." Aeris took the bag and went behind a large rock and into the thick wood line to clean herself the best she could and change clothes.

While she was gone from sight, Cloud went over to the fallen worm. There wasn't anything outstanding about it at all. That's what made it odd. Most of the time you didn't see landworms in the area. The soil was too thick for them to tunnel easily. Cloud dismissed the oddity and called out to his companion. "Are you about finished, Aeris?" he called out eager to get back on their way.

"We have a problem here." Aeris called back to him. Cloud was surprised by how close her voice was. Ever more surprised when he turned around and saw her wearing a white tank top that was obviously way too lose for her and a black leather miniskirt that was too tight. "You grabbed the wrong travel bag." She told him. It was obvious from her expression that she wasn't upset. Just about everything that could have gone wrong did and she could either laugh it off or throw a fit.

Cloud tried his hardest not to laugh at her but the expression was obvious on his face. "It's not funny. I can barely walk in this…this…oooooohhhh." she said trying to pull the skirt down further so that it covered her legs better. Cloud couldn't help but wonder what she was doing about her "unmentionables" but there was no way he was going to ask.

Aeris inched toward him. She was having trouble walking in Tifa's skirt but wasn't sure if it was because it was too tight (which it was) or for modesties sake. Either way, Aeris was going to be a liability to him like this. He was almost starting to regret making Yuffie stay behind. Yuffie would have never given him problems like this. Other problems, yes and lots of them but modesty and a change of clothes weren't among them.

"Here catch." Cloud picked up her staff and threw it at her. She fumbled in her attempt to catch it. Her legs didn't stretch as far as she expected them to under the confines of the tight skirt and the staff fell inches away from her grasp. She bent down to pick it up.

"What was that for?" she asked Cloud not understanding why he had thrown it to her..

"You just proved my point for me. I can't take you into battle like that if you can't get around." He turned and walked towards were the chocobo was tied to a tree. "I hate to say it, but you need to put the other dress back on. Maybe it's dirty but at least you can move in it."

For a moment Aeris was stunned silent. "but…it's all filthy." She muttered a complaint.

Cloud shrugged. "Sorry." but there was no trace of apology in his voice.

"It's covered in mud…soaked in it," Aeris continued her objections.

"Aeris, I'm sorry but I need back up here. Who knows what's going to pop up next." he said. Cloud couldn't believe he was even having this argument. "Right now you can barley even handle your staff." Aeris stood there looking at him with sad eyes. She didn't say anything to him. "Okay, okay. Here." He handed her his buster sword. Aeris's expression went from sad to perplexed. It was almost too heavy for her to even lift. She couldn't understand how Cloud could swing it around like he did.

"I can't do anything with this," she protested only to look back over at Cloud and notice him laughing. "It's not funny, Cloud. Stop picking on me."

"I'm sorry. Sorry. I meant take the materia from it," he sighed as he said it. "switch it out with what you have.

Aeris exchanged her curative materia for Cloud's offensive, carefully clicking them all into place and making sure they wouldn't come out. It had happened before during battle and Tifa still hadn't let her hear the end of that one. It was just so embarrassing. Aeris actually had more room in her staff for materia than Cloud's sword had so she got to keep some of her favorites as well. It wasn't like Cloud really used materia much anyway. He usually just ran into battle swinging his sword.

"You good?" he asked.

"I'll be better when I can get back into my own clothes." She smiled up at him.

"Good enough then." Cloud shrugged and climbed back on his chocobo. He waited for Aeris to do the same and when she just stood there not doing anything, he looked around puzzled. "What's wrong?"

"My chocobo ran away from me. Don't you remember?"

Cloud looked up and down the road for a minute and saw nothing that even resembled the bird nor could they catch a new one for Aeris. There weren't any other fresh chocobo tracks in the vicinity. He didn't have any choice. "Hop up behind me." he told Aeris.

Cloud watched as Aeris tried her hardest to climb on behind him without lifting the skirt she was wearing too high. The SOLDIER couldn't help but chuckle at some of her attempts. Finally he climbed of and walked over to her.

"Ummm, Cloud, what are you doing?" she asked him. He didn't answer her. Before she had time to ask again, he grabbed her with both hands around the waist and lifted her up. "Stop that! What are you…? HEY!" she cried out and kicked wildly before he plopped her unceremoniously on the back of the chocobo. Aeris sat there for a moment with a blank expression on her face. After she had realized what Cloud had been doing, she didn't know whether to thank him or apologize or what.

Cloud climbed back on the chocobo and took the space in front of her. "Hold on. We don't want you to get thrown again." Cloud said in a slightly more light hearted tone than he had been moments earlier.

Aeris wrapped her arms tightly around him and pressed up against Cloud. He couldn't help but smile.

Perhaps, he thought, we shouldn't be in such a big hurry after all.

Coming Next chapter: The Hard Way


	5. 5 The Hard Way

(Refer to chapter 1 for the disclaimer.)

Chapter 5: The Hard Way

"Okay" Cait Sith addressed the team. "We go in through here."

"Yer fuckin' kiddin' right?" Cid glanced at the sewer grate the talking cat had pointed to.

"If anyone has a better idea how a bunch of wanted criminals are going to sneak into a well guarded base to steal one of the Shin-ra's most heavily guarded assets, be my guest." Cait Sith said in return.

Barret looked at the closed grating. "Humph." he muttered and bashed the grating in with a hard thrust of his gunarm. "We gonna' get movin'?" Cid looked at his crossly. Cait Sith jumped down off his overstuffed moogle.

"Okay pal. You just go wait for us back at home base," the cat said to the stuffed cave moogle. "You wouldn't exactly fit in there anyways."

"Not like big ass over there right?" Cid pointed to Barret and lit a cigarette.

"Shaddup." Barret mumbled back.

"Are you two going to stand there arguing or are we going to move onward?" The way Vincent phrased the question there was no question about it. His voice was like ice. Vincent removed the red cape from his shoulders and draped it over the giant stuffed moogle's arms.

Cid was going to ask why but he was afraid that Barret might know and he didn't want to look like the dumber of the two of them.

"Yuffie!" Tifa called out for the young ninja. At the moment Yuffie didn't want to be bothered by anything. She was busy counting and organizing her materia by type, ability, mastery level, and of course personal preference.

"Alright. Fire level 2 and Ice 1, then Slow followed by Hold and Fast level two … Wait. That's a level one," Yuffie spoke to herself. "You're starting to get as old and senile as that dumb pilot." Yuffie looked at the piles she had separated. "I've simply gotta remember to get some more FAST materia." She scooted over to a new position to look at another pile.

"Yuffie, come on now!" Tifa yelled again.

"Now what do we have here? Regain, Heal, Fullcure, Demi. Demi? That doesn't belong there. That belongs…."

"Come Here!" Tifa yelled again.

"Here." Yuffie said putting the Demi materia right back into the pile she had just taken it from. "Arghhh!" She cried out in frustration. "Tifa just had to go and get her self hurt and of course it had to be in a fight with me so it looks like my fault. ARGHHH!" Yuffie batted the pile of materia scattering it across the room. She almost felt a little better and stormed to the door to Tifa's.

"What do you want?" Yuffie yelled as she entered the room.

"What took you?" Tifa asked. Yuffie didn't want to just admit that she didn't feel like coming, so she didn't answer. "Nevermind then. I…um…I spilled my drink all over the bed sheets. Could you help me out a bit here?" Tifa said with a slightly embarrassed tone. She had to remember not to try drinking while she was laying back again but it was so hard to sit up in the position they had laid her in.

Yuffie sighed. Is this what my life is turning into? She thought.

"Remind me again how long we've been crawling here," Cid grumbled to no one in particular.

"Three. It's been three hours" Vincent said not bothering to divert his attention.

"Let me know when we hit five. 'Cuz then I'm going to start getting pissed."

"Fucking Shinra!" Barret cursed as he scooted along the inside of the pipelines. As badly cramped as it may have been for Vincent and Cid, it was much worse for him. Her could barely drag himself along. "Why are we doin' this again? Goin' this damned way? Don't make no sense, can't see jack, and it stinks."

"Ya' think that's bad, ya' ought at' be the guy behind yer fat ass." Cid yelled back.

"Speakin' of fat asses, remind me at' kick yours when we get outta here,"

"Can't even remember that much, huh?" Although none of the others could see it, a wicked smile appeared on Cid's face as he spoke.

"Easy." Cait Sith tried to calm them. It didn't do much good. The fact that he was able to walk upright in the pipeline wasn't winning him any points. "We just have a quarter of a mile left."

"Shit." Barret and Cid said at the same time.

"This isn't as bad as expected." Vincent spoke to reassure them. "There were times….,"

"Yeah yeah, ya' had to walk five miles in the snow across landmines with no shoes when you were a Turk. Up hill both ways. We've heard that shit before too." Cid crawled along bringing up the rear of the group. "When are we going to get to the meat of the sit-ye-ation?"

"What's that mean?" Cait asked. There was silence for a moment. "Really? What does it mean? I have no clue."

"Ignore him" Vincent said.

"Yuffie!" Tifa called out again. It had taken Yuffie hours to gather all the materia scattered across the room thanks to her little tantrum. Now that she had them all back together again, of course Tifa would call her. Heaven forbid she get a moments peace. Yuffie gritted her teeth and clenched her fists but it really didn't make her feel any better. She wanted to smash something just so she had somewhere to direct the anger but there was nothing around she could get away with smashing.

"Yuffie!" Tifa was calling her again. The young ninja couldn't figure out what she had wanted this time. She really didn't care either. Yuffie made the short walk between their rooms and greeted the injured woman with her best, clinched teeth smile.

"Would you mind getting me something to eat? It's about lunch time and, well, I was getting hungry. I hate being a bother." Tifa looked as pathetic racked up like she was that almost anybody would have taken pity on her. Anyone except for a impatient arrogant teenage girl like Yuffie.

"Um…couldn't you have let Red get you something?" Yuffie asked trying her hardest to be nice.

"He's not exactly the best cook in the world. Regardless, I'd like something made by someone who has the same basic taste palate as a normal human. No offense to Red or anything." Tifa said.

"Yeah yeah got ya'. You don't want anything that might contain his dog hair or a dead rat," Yuffie said as she excuse herself to go to the kitchen and come up with something that was halfway edible.

"Vincent, if you please." Cait Sith said as he motioned to an iron grating that blocked their way. Vincent crawled past the others and gripped it tightly with his metal claws.

"Whoa. Hold up there." Barret broke in. "Don't Shin-ra usually got some kinda high-tech sensors and stuff? Probably got 'em down here too."

"What fuckin' lame ass paranoid freaks would put security sensors in their sewers." Cid didn't shout but the tone of his voice was far to loud for the echoes of the pipes.

"We are crawling through these sewers aren't we?' Vincent said. He was almost smiling.

"Nothing here. No sensors that you need to work about. You can trust me on this one." Cait Sith said as he stepped back. Cid mumbled so more curses. "As if standing up straight while we crawl though all kinds a shit ain't bad enough, now the cat's being a smart ass." 

Vincent eyed the grates carefully. He couldn't see any signs of security. He tightened his grip slightly and pulled the grating clear with a loud clash of metal and a collapse of concrete. Soon the team was on their way again.

"You look preoccupied with something." Rufus said to Reeve. Reeve was in fact occupied by the vision that came though Cait Sith's monitors to the contact lense view screens Hojo had created for him. Visions only he could see and, with the small wire running down to headphone speaker in his left ear, he was the only on that could hear them as well. Reeve turned a knob on the small remote that restored his vision to normal and looked over to his employer.

"I've been rather busy lately. I didn't know that taking over this position would be so … interesting, for lack of a better term. There are events going on that I never expected, and I'm just playing this off the fly. I'm rather clueless sometimes what I'm supposed to do half the time."

"Make it up as you go along. Just don't forget where your loyalties lie," the tone of Rufus voice told him that it was a threat not a suggestion. "Just let me know if anything comes along that I should know about." The president said as he left the room.

Reeve thought for a moment. AVALANCHE really didn't seem like that bad of people but in the public's view, they were terrorists. The Shin-ra was as corrupt as an organization went but they were praised as the good guys. If AVALANCHE was able to overthrow them, all of Midgar would be thrown into chaos. What was the lesser of two evils? He took a sip of his coffee whishing it was something stronger. Something like the drinks Tifa was fixed for her friends.

Reeve turned his attention completely back to his monitors again, wondering what he might have missed, wondering what side he was going to take.

"Did ya' have to do that?" Cid asked Vincent.

"He'll live. He'll just be out for a little while and have a headache when he wakes up." Vincent said looking down at the maintenance worker he had struck from behind. The greasy man was bleeding slightly from were his head had hit the concrete but there was no serious injuries. "The only problem he'll have is if the insects down here enter his wound."

"You're a sick bastard, ya' know that? " Cid bent down and pulled a small rage he usually used to check the oil on the Bronco and tied it around the man's forehead. It was a bit messy but better than leaving the man to the bugs. Cait Sith looked at the man and from his seat behind the monitors, so did Reeve. 

Reeve wiped his forehead and was surprised to find sweat had beaded up on it. He wasn't sure why either. Was it the threat that the janitor Vincent had subdued was going to alert the Shinra to their presence? That couldn't be it, Reeve thought. I'm Shinra. Just there as a spy.

The thought nagged at him. If he was just a spy, why hadn't he warned anyone of Avalanche's approach. It would have been the perfect opportunity.

"I bet you're so proud of yourself" Yuffie scolded Red XIII. "You don't have arms or hands to help out around here, all you have to do is just sit around taking up space."

"And you don't have four legs so you can't run like the wind or a nose that let's you identify any potential threat from passersby within half a mile, or a natural flame to vent body heat." Red looked back at her daring her to continue the argument.

"Yeah well…you're stupid! And…and you eat rats!" she said before slamming a large unidentified piece of meat into a foul smelling stew she was fixing for Tifa. "and she better like this" Yuffie grumbled to herself. Red chuckled slightly and went to check on Tifa himself.

"Are you doing well?" He asked as he entered her room.

"I'll be fine, it's just so frustrating being racked up like this. I can't help but wonder how everyone else is doing right now." 

"I'm sure there fine. There's a lot of experience in the groups. They can handle themselves well, I imagine." Red tried to comfort her.

"But…" Tifa started to bring up another point to argue before Red XIII cut her off again.

"Besides it's almost nightfall, wherever they are I'm sure they're going to be stopping to rest soon. So should you. You can worry about them more tomorrow."

"I guess. You sure they're going to be fine?" Tifa asked again feeling slightly like a child in need of comfort.

"They'll be fine, but if you eat what Yuffie's bringing you, I can't guarantee you will be."

"It's that bad?" Tifa asked only half jokingly.

"Sometimes my sense of smell can be a curse." Red XIII laughed.

"Well I hope things are going better for everyone else." Tifa smiled back.

"Well, here we go." Cloud said as he rolled out the sleeping bags. "Get some rest because I want to start early tomorrow mourning." Cloud removed the straps and small pieces of armor he worse and laid them at the head of his sleeping bad. He them pulled his shirt off and used it to make a pillow.

Aeris crawled in her sleeping bag and squeezed out of Tifa's skirt. It didn't feel right sleeping in such a state of undress with Cloud nearby but she knew she couldn't sleep in such a tight skirt either.

She glanced over at Cloud to see him fluffing the shirt and belts up the best he could to make a pillow. There was something that bothered her still. He was sleeping with his shirt and pads off but he had left his gloves on.

Reeve watched his companions from the eyes or a robot cat. One push of a button was all it took to alert security to there whereabouts. One push.

Coming Next chapter: Fight Night


	6. 6 Fight Night

(Refer to chapter 1 for the disclaimer.)

Chapter 6: Fight Night

"Just a little bit further…." Cait Sith said to the team. "Come on now." He smiled back at his companions. They were tired and cramped from trudging through the small sewage lines but they were following him without question. He only wished they were following him without complaint.

"Next time you say anything that even remotely sounds like you're being cheerful, I'm going ta' rip your head off and shove it up yer ass." Cid barked at him.

"Shut yo' mouth," Barret grumbled back to him. The traveling was definitely taking it's toll on them. Their temper had been pushed to it's limits and they were all waiting for something to snap at, with the possible exception of Vincent. As always, he had stayed quite throughout the trip, speaking only when he absolutely had too.

Cait Sith suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and the others almost plowed into him. Ahead of them, there was a huge opening that Reeve had known nothing about. Back at his desk, Reeve quickly checked his map. Somewhere, he had taken a wrong turn, leaving them completely lost. He quickly flipped through several section charts and passage maps in vain attempts to find their location. It wasn't helping. One map looked just like another to him.

"What the hell is it this time?" Cid grumbled.

"Nothing nothing. I just thought that you'd need a bit of a break," the robot cat cautiously said. "Just a few minutes." It was a pitiable attempt to buy time as Reeve frantically flipped though the outdated documents that showed the area.

"Special training room number 17." Vincent whispered. Reeve dropped the info he was mulling though and focused Cait's attention on the former Turk. "It's been ages since I've been here." the paused to look around. "It's seen better days." The comment was almost jovial. Reeve was taken back by the man's comment. It must have showed up on Cait Sith's features as well. Vincent looked down at the toy cat curiously.

"Ummm yeah!" He said jumping up and down. "I thought that no one would expect us to travel this way. Besides, I have my contact coming to meet us soon!" as soon as the words finished coming out of Cait's mouth, Reeve wondered why he said that. How was he going to have this non-existent contact show up?

"Yeah, so when do we, get to the ship?" Cid said finishing with a huge yawn. "I didn't get much sleep last night and I'm piss tired."

"Aww. Did poor widdle Cidy miss his nap," Barret teased. Cid clenched his fists for a moment before deciding that it wasn't worth it and slumped against the wall.

"Actually, I'm not tooooo sure which way it is from here? Which way the exit is, I mean. Once we get that, it'll be easy to finish going were we're going." Cait Sith scratched his head. "It's just that…"

"Heeeeeey Reeve, did you forget the staff meeting?" The voice made Reeve jump in his seat. He quickly switched Cait Sith's controls to automatic and turned his viewer off. Then he turned his attention to the man standing in the doorway. "I sure hope you're not getting paid any extra for sitting there and going doo-do-doo do-doo-do." Palmer said waving his finger though the air like a moron trying to conduct a symphony.

"I'm coming. I just had a little extra bit of work to do." Reeve shuffled the paperwork that was sitting on his desk in an effort to fool Palmer. It was a wasted effort. Palmer didn't care one way or another. "Tell the others I'll be there in a minute."

"How about You tell them yourself. I left my sandwich in the bathroom. I think that's where I left it at least," Palmer said as he actually took to his tip toes and pranced (as much as a man of his girth could) off. "First things first, you know," Palmer said as he bounced away. Reeve switched the audio control back onto Cait Sith.

"I think we need to split up and take a look around here. Maybe catch our breath before heading in any further." he offered to stall them until he could turn his attention fully back to his compatriots after the meeting.

"So good of you to join us." Rufus greeted him sternly as Reeve entered the conference room. "Remember, your extra activities do not preclude you from the day to day responsibilities of the organization." Reeve looked around and quickly accessed his situation. He seemed to be playing catch up a quite often lately. Although being Cait Sith was a great relief from his daily stress, events such as theses were become much more common. He was beginning to think that splitting his life in two was more effort than it was worth.

Rufus had taken his seat in the most expensive chain in the room. Scarlet was filling her nails in boredom. Heidegar, never the one who liked inaction of any kind was drumming his fingers against the desk. Hojo was mulling over some scientific documents that would have been completely unintelligible to anyone with out an advanced degree in biogenetics. Palmer was eating a sub topped with things Reeve suspected he didn't want to know the names of. It was all business as usual. Reeve settled down to play his part.

"I was just finished up some business with the …extra activities you've had me work on." Reeve directed the answer to Rufus who knew exactly what he meant. Nobody else cared except Hojo. Hojo was suspicious of everything. It was one of the qualities that made him a good scientist and a terrible human being. Rufus smiled and clicked a button to start the presentation.

"Get up" Cloud whispered to Aeris. "What…What is it?' Aeris grumbled, not at all ready to get out of her warm sleeping bag.

"Get up" Cloud repeated. "Someone's out there. Someone or something," Aeris watched as Cloud silently readied his sword and peered out into the darkness.

Aeris started to climb out of her sleeping bag completely forgetting that she wasn't wearing her usual clothing. As the cool night air hit her bare legs she was instantly shocked awake and dove back into her sleeping bag. Quickly she squirmed back into Tifa's dress, wishing that her friend dressed in looser warmer clothing.

"I'm ready," Aeris said grabbing up her battle staff. Cloud unzipped the tent slowly and gestured for her to follow. The two of them stepped out into the cold night air. Cloud stood as still as a statue, tightly gripping his buster sword as he peered into the darkness. Cloud's silence and still manner was almost frightening. Aeris tried but she couldn't see anything in the dark. The icy breeze chilled the flower girl, she pressed up against her companion for both comfort and warmth. She placed her hand on his. As she did this, he jerked it away and gave her a cold look. Aeris leapt back in alarm.

"Pay attention," Cloud said turning his eyes away from her again and back to the night. Aeris gripped her staff nervously. She braced herself against the night wind. As cold as she was, she knew Cloud must have been worse. Even though the glove, his hand had felt like ice.

"Cloud?" . Aeris whispered his name. She wanted to ask him what they were doing, but she couldn't find the right words. Standing alone, still, and quite in the pitch darkness was beginning to give her an eerie feeling inside.

"Quiet. I hear something," he tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. Aeris could hear it too now, a slight rumbling sound. It seemed to be growing closer to them. Mentally she prepared herself. There was a sound resembling a small explosion as a landworm ripped its way out from the ground in front of them. Cloud rushed to the side of the beast while Aeris readied her materia. Cloud slashed the beast sending blood flying. The worm thrashed wildly at the pain, slamming into Cloud. The thrashing worm smashed Cloud against a small tree. From where she stood, Aeris could see the trunk of it cracked from the impact.

A land worm. Aeris grumbled. The outfit she was wearing reminded her of how badly the last land worm had showed her up. She had been just about worthless then and just the thought of fighting another one gave her the shakes. Even under the best circumstances, she had a Aeris had a natural repugnance of those. The way it twisted and moved seemed so alien to her. Whenever she had the choice, she'd stay in the rear of the formation and her materia to support the others.

All that was in the daytime, however. The worms had been bad in the light. At night it looked like a living nightmare. It's breath came out like putrid steam. It's teeth seemed as long and sharp as daggers.

Slowly she backed away cautiously to finish charging her materia for use. As she backstopped, her foot caught an upturned root sending her tumbling to the ground. "Great," she thought. "the worm has you tripping and falling over everything again," she thought. She looked over to Cloud for help. He was struggling to regain his sword which had imbedded itself in the trunk of a larger tree. The creature bore down on her. It's mouth was easily half the size of her entire body. Easily large enough to swallow her. She shut her eyes as if merely wishing would send he creature way and waited for the end.

Nothing happened.

Cautiously she opened her eyes. As strange a notion as it seemed, she was afraid that the worm was just toying with her. Instead, it wasn't anywhere near her. She saw Cloud holing on tightly to the creature with one arm. With the other he was pounding the creature with his fist. It lashed around wildly jerking to one side then the other trying to throw him. Aeris stumbled to her feet constricted by the tight skirt and grabbed her staff. Holding it out in front of her the materias glowed brightly. "Cloud!" she shouted in warning. "Fire!" Flames shot from the magical orbs imbedded in her staff.

Cloud watched the flames approach like waves. At the last moment he released his grip and leapt from the beast before the flames struck. The magical fire consumed the worm almost instantly.

"Thanks" Cloud said. He walked over and playfully ruffled her hair. It wasn't anything major, just a causal and juvenile display of affection, but to Aeris, it felt as good as a kiss. It wasn't often that he showed any appreciation at towards anyone. Sometimes she thought he was just trying to hide it. She'd seen him taking interested little glances and quickly looking away when he thought someone might have seen. It seemed to be his nature to conceal his affections.

Aeris watched as Cloud went over and struggled to pull his blade from the oak.

"Oh, one more thing" Cloud said after his back was turned. Aeris's interest peaked. "Fix your skirt." He said with the slightest hint of humor. Aeris looked down and almost died of embarrassment. The short skirt she had accidentally borrowed from Tifa had ridding up almost to Aeris's waist.

A blond haired man stood on a hilltop and watched the scene unfold before him. Earlier in the week he'd stolen a landworm summon materia. He'd only had a few chances to use it and most of those times had been against random travelers on the road, but seeing he worm burning below, he decided it wasn't exactly something he'd get much use out of. Next town he got to, he's sell it for whatever gil he could get. He sat there watching the fire. When the two people below went to sleep, he'd sneak down there and get a hunk of landworm meat. it didn't sound to appealing, but he hadn't been eating too well recently anyway.

He stretched out to watch the strangers for a bit. In the fire light, he could only make out small details. The woman was small and dressed in a slutty skirt and a shirt that didn't seem to fit. The man … he squinted a little bit … the man had stayed out of the light for the most part. He couldn't get a good look.

Then the man walked over to the woman. In the light, he got all the details he needed. The man was wearing a SOLDIER uniform. That alone would ranked him as a threat to be avoid, but he knew this man. This was Strife.

The meeting was adjourned and Reeve left the conference room. Most of it hadn't been relevant to him. Really, the only thing he was there for was policy and to give his small say in the salvage rights for the collapsed plate. The last item on the agenda was what had caught his attention most. It was the wanted reports for the members of AVALANCHE.

Multiple terrorism charges, murders of Shinra military members, braking an entering, conspiracy to over throw the government, and then there were the individual charges.

Vincent Valentine disappeared without a trace 30 years ago. Whoever the man he traveled with was, he was too young to be Vincent.

Cloud and Tifa somehow walked away from an operation that killed their entire town and left several high ranking Shin-ra SOLDIERs dead.

Reeve lifted his pHs out of his upper coat pocket to make a call.

He pulled a card from his wallet and dialed the number from it. It was picked up on the first ring. "This is Reeve. I know it's not policy, but I need a favor. I need to get to Junon as quickly as possible. …. Oh trust me. You'll be very interested in this."

Coming Next Chapter: King of the Road


	7. 7 King of the Road

Chapter 7: King of the Road  
  
The night shift was mind numbingly dull, which was just the way Ren liked it. There was never anything that remotely resembled action or excitement. Even the weather was plain. Not too hot, not too cold. Nobody much came up here at this time and the weather was supposed to be nice and cool. He already was on relatively good terms with the shift chief as well. Granted, it's not like they were going to be friends anytime soon, but he could usually talk to him without any real formalities. That was a major plus in this line of work.  
  
Ren lit a cigarette. He wasn't supposed to smoke on duty, but didn't care much. His shift partner was taking a nap as well, so there would be nobody around to yell at him for it. That's how they worked. One would sleep and the other would stay up and make sure nothing happened. Right now it was Ren's turn to be awake.  
  
"Hello," a voice cut though the silence. Ren jumped in surprise. He dropped his cigarette on his jacket. Still alarmed, he quickly brushed it off and stopped it out. He hadn't seen or heard anyone approaching in the dark. Quickly and panicked, He fumbled for his pistol for a second before remembering that he wasn't authorized to shoot on this post. Besides, he had no real reason to. Even if he hadn't been caught smoking on duty, he couldn't for the life of him remember the protocol for this kind of situation.  
  
"Sir, I'm sorry. This area is off limits," the said in his most authoritive voice.  
  
"And?" The man said. Ren was now able to get a good view of him. He was wearing a ball cap and a well-worn brown leather coat. He couldn't have been trying any harder to look casual.  
  
"Sir, you're not allowed in this area, I'm afraid you're going to have to turn around and go back." His plan was to have the guy start to walk away and follow him until he got back to the guard shack. Then he's wake his partner. Tagu would know what to do. Let him handle things.  
  
Ren looked again. The man wasn't moving. That was good and bad. It meant he wasn't actively trying to cause trouble, but it also meant he wasn't following orders either.  
  
The man reached up and tipped the brim of his hat up and out of the way revealing his face. He was a middle-aged man with a well-trimmed black goatee.  
  
"Sir, you're going to have to leave. This area is restricted." Ren seriously considered reaching for his gun. The shock had worn off and now he was just angry and embarrassed at being caught off guard. Still, He wouldn't shoot the man. He just planned on giving him the scare of his life. Throwing him in lockup overnight wouldn't be a bad idea either.  
  
The man in the coat sighed. "Hold up for a second," he said. Ren watched as he reached into a top coat pocket and produced his wallet. He opened it up and, after flipping though several credit card, the man handed his ID to Ren.  
  
Ren didn't even have to look at the name on the card. It was obvious from first glance that it was a class A ID card. Only the Heads of the Divisions had those.  
  
"Reeve, pleased to meet you," the man introduced himself without a hint of vexation. "Can I have my ID back now? I'm rather in a hurry."  
  
Ren was breathless for a moment. He had been trying to boss around the head of the urban division, or whatever they called the guy who actually ran the city. Reeve reached over and plucked the ID out of Ren's hand.  
  
"I didn't recognize you. Sorry, Sir" he mumbled. There was nothing he would have liked better than crawling into a gutter and dying right now.  
  
"Don't worry. No harm done." Reeve smiled at him. It was a generally good natured smile.  
  
"Actually there is," another voice said.  
  
"Shit," Ren muttered unable to contain himself. Of course he couldn't have got away with slacking on duty. He was going to be in so much trouble now that it wasn't even funny. He turned his back on Reeve to see who the new comer was. The visage was unmistakable. It was Tseng of the TURKS. "shit," he muttered again.  
  
"I don't appreciate seeing people slack off on their duties," he addressed the guard. Then he turned to Reeve. "The helicopter is ready. This better be as important as you say."  
  
Reeve started to speak and then looked over at Ren. "I'll let you know on the way." He walked past Ren. "One more thing, he addressed the guard, "Forget you saw us for now. If you have to write it up, just say that authorized personnel were here. For now, this stays off record." Ren gulped as he watched the two men walk off into the dark towards the helipads. He was so far over hi head he didn't know what to do. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to write it up, or dismiss it. He wasn't even sure if he was supposed to wake his partner up. Eventually he decided to ignore everything and hope it worked out for the best.  
  
……………………………….......  
  
Tifa looked out her window. She was having a hard time sleeping with her brace on, so she couldn't really do anything but lie there. She watched the stars. Stars had always meant so much to her, like magic, a gateway to another world perhaps. She smiled and rested her head back down on the pillow. She wondered how Cloud was sleeping tonight.  
  
……………………………….....  
  
It had been about an hour since Cloud, Aeris, Tifa, Red XIII, and Yuffie bedded down for the night, and an hour and a half since Reeve left the conference room, the remaining member of AVALANCHE that followed Cait Sith were still following him though the tunnels with no sign of stopping anytime soon.  
  
"We just about there yet?" Barret grumped again. Vincent smiled inside and he entertained the fantasy of just taking his gun out and shooting the man. At this rate, they'd all kill each other by the time they got where they were going anyway.  
  
"Just about," Cait said.  
  
"'Bout damned time" Cid mumbled.  
  
………………………………....  
  
As Tseng piloted the helicopter, Reeve relayed the information to him. He edited it down to the very basic need to know information. Several members of AVALANCHE were invading the Junon facilities in effort to steal the airship Highwind.  
  
"Interesting," was Tseng's only reply. He had enough experience to read between the lines of what people said. Reeve hadn't been lying, but he hadn't told him everything. Tseng knew this much. He just didn't care. He was used to it.  
  
Tseng studied Reeve's expressions and body language. He seemed rather nervous. Tseng guessed that it involved Reeve's personal viewpoints conflicting with his duties. Honestly none of it was Tseng's business. Tseng had his own personal involvement. In part, he hoped that Aeris would be part of the group. It had been quite a while since they had met on pleasant terms. If she was there, however, it meant that he would have to take her into custody, whether she wanted to go peacefully or not. A long time ago, he placed business over his personal life.  
  
"Why, if I may be so bold to ask, sir, did you choose me?" Tseng asked. "You could have gotten half a battalion down there in the time it took to contact me and have us fly into the city.  
  
"Half a battalion would be far too eager to shoot and make a name for themselves." Reeve replied. "I wanted the best man for the job," Reeve said the words, but even he knew that it was more than half a lie. "How long?"  
  
"We arrive in another half hour."  
  
Next Chapter: Saturday Night's alright for fighting 


	8. 8 Sat Night's Alright for Fighting

Chapter 8:   Saturday Night's alright for Fighting

"And here's the guy we're supposed to be meeting." The mechanical cat said as it rushed forwards and leapt into Reeve's arms.   
"Reeve?" Vincent questioned.   
"Yeah…we're here at' meet you?" Cid scratched his forehead as he spoke.   
"Sort of…then again, actually you're here to meet him." Reeve said as he stepped back around the corner and out of sight, with Cait Sith still in hand.

Tseng stepped forward to take his place. "Consider yourself arrested," he said without any hint of emotion. "Take no actions. Come peacefully or you'll regret it." "Shit, we've been setup," Cid grumbled. Tseng stood there waiting. It had always been his style to let the enemy make the first move. Usually if he didn't the fight was over too fast.

"You ready to rock, Suit?" Cid asked. Without waiting for a reply, he swung his spear like a baseball bat. Tseng went into a ducked roll, avoiding the clumsy attack. Before Cid could react, Tseng kicked Cid's legs out from underneath him, dropping him into the muck. From there Tseng quickly flipped to his feet and dropped his elbow hard onto the back of the pilots head smashing it against the concrete. Tseng didn't waist a moment looking to see if Cid was conscious or not. There were still two terrorists left standing.

The Turk was actually surprised to find that he had not been fired upon yet. He knew the area was a prime location for ricochets but he didn't expect these morons to think the same. He chastised himself for assuming too much about his opponents already. Assuming would only get him killed somewhere along the lines. He'd already seen the same fate happen to quite a few now-deceased Turks. The burly black man, whose name he couldn't remember, charging at him with all the grace of a drunken bull, interrupted his thoughts. The man swung his prosthetic at Tseng's head. He quickly raised his own arm to block. Pain shot through Tseng's forearms as the attack connected, still it was a welcome alternative to what the force of the blow would have done to would have done to his head. The Turk reached into his coat and pulled a small adhesive explosive from an inner pocket. Quickly, he attacked it to the man's clothing and quickly tossed him away moments before it blew and rendered the man unconscious. Barret had never even seen the attack coming.

Tseng actually smiled. These people were hardly even a work out. The pleasure was short lived, however. He gritted his teeth as he felt the familiar burning of hot bullets piercing his body. It was an all too familiar sensation for his line of work but that didn't mean he was used to it. He pushed his hands against the wound to stop the blood flow as he dove for cover in the passageway he entered from.

Only a maniac or someone with unmatchable skill would ever dare to have shot in such a cramped environment. Vincent Valentine was both. Tseng drew the energy from a cure materia that he held with him. It never ceased to amaze him watching his wounds close and heal under their own power. Once he felt in fighting condition, again he peaked slightly around the corner. Vincent had drug his friends out of the line of fire much more quickly than Tseng had expected. Worse, Vincent was nowhere to be seen. Tseng stood quietly waiting for the slightest movement or sound to give away the man's position. It seemed like an eternity passed as Vincent and Tseng both waited for the other to make the move. Finally Tseng spoke. "Give it up." There was no response. "Surrender and you'll only be taken into custody."

"Refuse and you'll kill me, correct?" Vincent called back.

"Yes." Tseng kept the answers short. He could already tell he was dealing with a pro. "Better have tried," came Vincent's bitter response.

Tseng smiled at the man's well deserved hubris. "Well then, it seems we've hit a stalemate doesn't it?"

Although they had little time to observe the others behavior, and even less words were exchanged, tseng and Vincent had found there common ground. Inside, they were warriors. It was all they were, all they had. There was an honor there that most people could never understand.

"Let's end this," Vincent called out.

"Agreed."

Vincent and Tseng emerged from their respective cover. Tseng drew a second gun from his coat. Vincent did the same. There was a gun in each hand as the two men stepped into the open and began firing.

Coming next chapter: The Long and Winding Road


	9. 9 The Long and Winding Road

Chapter 9: The Long and Winding Road 

A sword struck.

A woman fell. 

A man in a black coat smiled. 

Aeris woke up. The dream had been so much cleared this time. There was no question about it this time. Someone was going to die. She knew it and worse, she couldn't do a thing about it. The flower girl flipped over and buried her face deep in the sleeping bag as she began to cry. "It's not fair," she sobbed. "It's not. Why does anybody have to die? I don't want Tifa to die. I don't want to die. It's not fair. I don't want to die. Why do we have to do this? Why us? Why can't I change things? Why does it have to be this way? Why?" Aeris cried into her soft bag asking question that she knew no answers to until she could no longer even form the words.

She wished she was back home in Midgar where she could just go back into the old church. It was the only place she was able to hear her mother's spirit. Here she was alone. Sure Cloud was with her and she loved him more than she thought she could ever make him see…but he couldn't comfort her. He wouldn't be able to reassure her. At best, he'd try, maybe, but he just wasn't good at it. Aeris lifted her head from the folds and looked around. Cloud wasn't inside the tent which she was immeasurably grateful for. She didn't know what she would have done if he had caught sight of her crying like that.

Aeris wiped away her tears and the snot coming from her nose then fished her clothing out of the bag. She held the her clothes up and looked at the dirty pink dress and red jacket. It was still covered in mud. No surprise there, but now it was starting to stink as well. She zipped the bag back up and dressed herself again in the outfit that had accidentally been borrowed from Tifa. For a brief moment she wondered exactly how Tifa would look in hers. The thought should have made her giggle. She wanted to. She tired harder to think of Tifa in dressed in pink with ribbons in her hair. She never brought herself above a forced chuckle. Nevertheless, it felt good all the same.

As soon as she was ready, she unzipped the tent and stepped into the mourning air. She yawned and stretched as the looked around. It was slightly disappointing that she had missed the sun rise but the sky was still illuminated with a slightly pinkish tint telling her that it hadn't been long since it had. The air was still fresh and slightly cool. A little ways away, she could see the makings of a fire that Cloud had started. 

As she approached, she saw Cloud kicking some dust around with his boot. "Cloud?" She wanted to know what he was doing, but was afraid to ask. 

Cloud hurriedly kicked the dust a few more times before he quit and walked towards her. He glanced back over his shoulder once at the spot he had been standing and an obvious false smiled crossed his face. "Everything's good." He smiled at her. Aeris chose not to pursue the subject further. It was obvious things weren't. It was just as obvious that if Cloud didn't want to say something, he wouldn't. It was one of the things that most infuriated this friends. "Well I got something to eat fixed up." He gestured to a fish that was cooking over the fire. 

"Sure. That sounds good." Aeris smiled back at him. She hadn't had many opportunities to eat fish before. They weren't exactly in abundance in the sector she was from and when they were available, they were out of her mother's price range. As they ate the meal, Aeris decided that she really didn't care for the taste. At least it was something different. While she finished her breakfast, Cloud went to take down the tent they had slept in. For a moment after she had finished eating, Aeris thought about helping Cloud out taking the tent down, but curiosity got the better of her. She quickly went over to where Cloud had been kicking up dust and looked. Something had been written in the ground, more than likely by someone just dragging their foot through the dirt to make the words. Cloud had effectively destroyed most of what had been written there. The only words she could make out were "will" and "forgotten". Aeris paused for a moment studding the lines in the dirt hoping that she could uncover more of the message but nothing else was legible. 

"You all ready?" Cloud called back to her. Aeris leapt up and quickly turned around hoping Cloud didn't notice what she had been trying to do. 

"Alright," she smiled daintily and rushed back over to join him. They climbed back on the chocobo he had and once again began to ride.

………………………………......

He watched Strife and the unknown girl ride away. He had been watching them since morning. Somehow, the girl seemed slightly familiar. Perhaps not some one he personally knew but he had seen her somewhere before. In a crowd or something. The memory wouldn't come. Midgar, he thought but that still didn't tell him anything. One of his sister's friends perhaps? He couldn't think. It really didn't matter though. Who ever she was, he really didn't care. Strife was the main target for now and maybe if Cloud was still alive, then maybe Zack was too. He turned down the road and started walking the same direction he had saw Strife and the girl head down. There was no way he was going to catch up with them anytime soon. He wasn't that delusional to think he could, but at least he was headed in the right direction. 

………………………………. 

Vincent slowly raised his head from the cold hard floor. He tried his hardest to lift himself from the ground but his metal arm wouldn't move. With his still human appendage he pushed himself to his knees. "Nice to see you could join us," Cid said bitterly, "I thought you were just going to lie there all day." Vincent looked around. The walls, floor, and ceiling, were all made of a cold dark colored stone while reinforced glass and titanium bars supported them. There was no question in his mind. 

"Prison" he said quietly to himself. 

"Wow, he figured it out! Give the man a cigar!" Cid coldly mocked excitement. "I'd give you one but …I ain't got not fucking cigars! … or cigarettes for that matter!" 

"Ease up on da' man." Barret said. Vincent looked around the cell and saw Barret sitting up on a bench in the corner. Vincent stood up completely, grimacing in pain. There was no telling how many bullet holes graced his body but the bleeding had already stopped and he knew that it wouldn't be fatal. Not to him.

Walking was difficult with the heavy metal weight pulling him down and he staggered slightly as he moved. Barret noticed this and sighed. He tapped his fingers against the gunarm attached to his wrist signifying that whatever had been done to Vincent had been done to him as well. Vincent sat down next to the man. They didn't speak. There were no words that needed to be said. They all knew they had all walked into the trap like amateurs. 

"This sucks shit," Cid slammed his fist against the glass. He quickly pulled it back from the harsh blow and tried to make it look like it didn't hurt like hell from the impact. He wasn't fooling anybody. Still, neither Vincent nor Barret thought it wise to say anything.   
"Oh yeah. Foods over there." Cid pointing before taking his hand back and rubbing it to try to easy the pain. 

"Poisonous?" Vincent arched his eyebrow. He didn't care to take any chances while he was here. 

"I ain't dead yet, if that's what yer askin'." 

………………. 

The chocobo carried them down the dusty road. Aeris had tried several times to strike up a conversation with Cloud but he didn't seem to be interested. Finally she got tired of trying, at least for now. Later when they had something else to talk about she'd try again. She let her mind drift away. "That's a nice tune," Cloud said startling Aeris back to alertness. She hadn't even realized that she had been humming out loud. It was rather embarrassing. It seemed like this whole trip, she'd done nothing but embarrassed herself time and time again. 

"Oh." Aeris said simply as she tried to think of exactly how much she should tell him. "My mom taught it to me. My real mom. She used to sing it to me when I was little. It's one of the few things I can remember of her before she…." Aeris's voice trailed off. It wasn't that she didn't want to think about it, she just didn't want to say it out loud. 

"You remember it?" Cloud asked without taking his eyes away from the road. 

"Every last little bit." Aeris said thinking back to how her mother would sing it to her. 

"Sing it." Cloud said softly. "Please." Aeris was quiet for a few moments. Was he trying to embarrass her on purpose? That was her first reaction. Her second was that the request was actually rather sweet. It was embarrassing but sweet. The young flower girl started to sing. 

"Beyond this road, running on far and long must surely be something we can believe in   
If, like a traveler in the wind you went on, aiming for the northern skies   
The hot emotions that have begun to disappear   
Glitter and wave once more within my heart I don't want to cry, you see   
So I don't give in to my weak self   
Huge wings Unseen only by eyes   
Held by undecorated hearts   
Spread your hands; while singing   
Be embraced by eternal time   
And connect with life   
Beyond this road, running on far and long must surely be something we can believe in"

Cloud was silent.

"What's wrong? Didn't you like it? You aren't saying anything." Aeris questioned him. 

"Nah. That was great. Really." Cloud said trying to downplay his reaction as much as possible. It was beautiful. Cloud was glad they were both riding on the chocobo, she couldn't see his face. 

………………………………...

The sun crossed the sky and began to set again as the tired SOLDIER and flower girl rode into North Corel. Cloud helped Aeris down from the ride and turned the chocobo loose. They could catch another one when it was time to leave. There was something about North Corel that reminded Aeris of her home in Midgar. She couldn't quite place it. The only thing that came to mind was the desolation but there had to be more to it than that. She looked around as they continued. Always so much too see. So many people trying their hardest to live.

"I guess we'll wait here." Cloud said when they reached the lift stop to the Golden Saucer. Cloud took a seat on the bench without bother to offer one to Aeris and looked around. "It's a dump isn't it?" 

"How can you say that Cloud. This place isn't perfect and it may be run down, but these people live here. You shouldn't talk bad about were people live. How would you like it if they talked about your hometown like that?" Aeris realized it sounded like a lecture but she was quite perturbed by his harsh words about the town. He didn't say anything back, which she took to be a good side. Maybe he was ashamed at what he had done. 

Not good enough. The phrase echoed through Cloud's mind. He wasn't good enough. Never good enough. He whispered the words to himself. "Not good enough." 

"Excuse me? What's not god enough?" Aeris asked picking on the phrase. She sat down net to him as close as she could on the hard bench. 

"I was thinking back to my hometown. …I was … never mind. You don't want to hear it."   
"Maybe some other time then," Aeris suggested hopefully.

"Maybe." Cloud said. 'But I doubt it.' he wanted to add.

They sat there in silence waiting as the sky began to get darker.

"I wonder what the problem is." Aeris finally said in hopes of getting some kind of conversation started. 

Cloud didn't answer. They sat there for a while longer before Cloud finally did speak. "It's late. I don't know what he problem is but let's just get rooms at the inn and worry about it tomorrow." Aeris led the way as she remembered the town slightly better than Cloud did. They rented separate rooms for the night. Aeris also used this as an opportunity to wash her own outfit and finally get out of Tifa's clothes. 

……………………… 

It was night time already. Tseng's day had been nothing but one job right after another. Heidegger was extremely bust trying to deal with both the return of Sephiroth and AVALANCHE in addition to his normal duties. That left the Turks almost completely under Tseng's controls. A good portion of his day had been spent in the hospital having his wounds treated and two of his fingers reattached. The rest of the day had been spent trying to sort out some of the problems Reno had caused the previous day while off duty.

Still, it was nice to be back in Midgar. Tseng hated Junon. It stank like fish and even the air felt wrong. Flying back to Midgar with the prisoners wouldn't have been his choice, but flying back definitely was. He had even postponed his medical treatments. He had taped the fingers Vincent had shot back in place on his hand and had used a cure materia to hold off the irreversible damage. He learned that trick back in the Wu-tai War.

Now the head of the Turks had finally found enough down time to check back and see what he could learn form last night's prisoners. 

Tseng shifted through the supplies he had taken from the terrorists. He was quite impressed by the armaments that the man called Vincent carried. Perhaps this man was truly The Butcher as he claimed. 

He picked up a Shortbarrel 43 he had gotten from the man and aimed it. It had been modified slightly. The grip had been replaced with hard leather. A eighth on an inch had been taken of the barrel and the butt stock had been hollowed out but reinforced with a titanium polymer. Tseng tossed it back and forth between his hands a few times. The balance on it was amazing. He unloaded the weapon and squeezed lightly against the trigger. Tseng smiled to himself and started to put the weapon to the side to later claim it as his own. 

The PHS he took from one of them rang before he had set the weapon down. He picked up and disguised his voice as the gruff pilot, answered the PHS "Yeah? What is it?" 

"Hey. It's me Yuffie. I meant to call earlier, the other day but kinda got distracted. I don't have much time to talk right now 'cause I gotta help Tifa with her stupid bath. Just wanted you to know that we've found out were that Ancient key thing is. Cloud and Aeris went to the Golden saucer to get it. No time to talk. Bye, Cid." The line went dead. 

Tseng smiled.

Next Chapter: Walkin' in the Park


	10. 10 Walkin' in the Park

(for disclaimer refer to chaper 1)

Chapter 10: Walkin' in the park

Cloud awoke alone in his room. He wrapped his bed sheets around his body and walked over to the window. Peaking out from behind the curtains, he gazed up at the sun. It was much higher than he expected it to be, telling him he had slept much longer than he had wanted. It wasn't like him at all. At the very least, Aeris should have knocked on his door and woken him up. It was already past the time he had meant to get moving. The ex-SOLDIER slipped his pants and shirt on, and sat down on the bed. If the sun was up, then Aeris would definitely be up as well. And more than likely she'd already be outside too. Cloud slid his gloves on and attached his armguard to hold it in place. From there the boots went on next. He hesitated before snapping his belt on and instead just tossed the thing over his shoulder. If Aeris was already out, he might as well get something to eat and see if he could track her down.

"Good Morning, mister" a young girl greeted his as he came down the steps of the inn. "Hope you slept well. Are you going to be leaving now?" Cloud smiled a bit. He never did get used to being called mister. He couldn't actually place when it had occurred to him he was finally an adult. One day he was a teenager then….Cloud grimaced in pain and turned to hide it from the girl. Something in his head hurt. It was almost as if the the sudden migraine wanted to stop him from recalling those memories. He shook off the effects as best as he could and turned back to the girl.

"Nah. I'm …well, not just yet. Say, could you answer a few quick questions for me?" The girl paused like she wasn't sure it was okay for her to do but nodded shyly. "That's great. Okay, you know the girl who was here with me last night. Do you know were she's at right now?"

"Sorry." The girl shrugged. It wasn't that she didn't know where Aeris was, it was that she didn't know who Cloud was even talking about. That much was evident on her face, so he moved on to the next question.

"Thanks anyway, okay, do you know why the lifts to Golden Saucer were closed last night?"

"They close the lift every night, silly." The girl chuckled slightly. She must have thought that Cloud had just been joking with her so he let it go. In truth he felt just a little embarrassed that he hadn't thought of that and decided not to ask anymore questions.  
Cloud walked around the town and got a quick breakfast while he looked for Aeris. After about an hour and multiple passes by the lifts, Cloud gave up and headed back to the inn. If he couldn't find Aeris, then she could go find him. He walked back into the inn and past the little girl who had now been joined by her mother.

As Cloud opened the door to his room, he heard a cheerful voice asking "What took you so long?" Aeris was sitting on the bed wearing her standard pink dress again. It wasn't perfectly clean, but with so much time on the road, most of their clothes usually were a bit dirty. There was a slightly confused look on Cloud's face as he entered so she immediately began to talk.

"I had to finish cleaning my dress and by the time it had finally dried, you had taken off. I checked out of my room and just decided to come here and wait for you." In a way, it was nice to see Aeris back in her own clothes. The outfit just completed who Aeris was. Cloud smiled to himself as he thought about it. Then again, he'd miss the skimpy look. He'd never forget when her skirt rode up on her the other day.

"Well you look happy about something." Aeris said noticing the look on his face. "Care to tell me what it is?"

"Don't worry about it." Cloud tried his hardest to straighten his smile into a more serious expression. "Let's get going then. The Saucer's open." They left the inn and started to walk towards the lifts when Cloud heard a familiar sound of clicking machinery. Grabbing Aeris's hand he started to run forcing her to try her best to follow him. They reached the lifts just as it pulled away.

"Mind….mind tell…telling me ….why…..?" Aeris tried to ask as she caught her breath.  
"We missed the lift." Cloud sighed. He wondered offhand how long it would take for another to come back down. For a moment he considered apologizing for yanking Aeris by the arm and dragging her along but for reasons he couldn't quite figure out, He decided not to.  
They stood there silently as they waited for the next sky lift. They tried there hardest to ignore the awkward looks they received. Many people still remembered the mako reactor's explosion. A strong grudge was held against the Shinra. Cloud walking around in the uniform it didn't help people's opinions of them.

His attention was so wrapped up in what others thought of him, he hadn't even noticed the darkening sky until a single rain drop struck him on the top of the head.

"Great. Now it's raining. Could this get any worse?" As he said that, he knew it was probably a mistake. Surprising however, things actually got better. Not weather wise but rather the situation. The tram arrived and Aeris and Cloud quickly boarded it.

Aeris's mood perked up even more as the tram began to move toward the Golden Saucer. Last time they had come here she didn't have time to enjoy the sights and she had been waiting for an excuse to come back ever since. When she was years younger, Zack would often tell her about the places he'd visited, but no story was ever as entertaining as his tales about the Golden Saucer. The bright lights, colors, friendly people, it was a place that was just all out fun. Having spent her first few years living like a lab rat and the rest of her life in the slums, Aeris couldn't even begin to imagine it. But what caught her attention more than anything is when he had told her about the sky ride. Not the one they took to get to the place but the sky ride inside the park. You were above everything looking down the world. Not just any world either. A world that only existed inside the Golden Saucer, a world of wonder. She remembered it clearly. He'd tell her his stories and then laugh at her wide eyed expression. Then he'd say… " 'Ris, I promise you one of these days me and you are going to go up on that thing. Because if you get this exited just hearing about it, I can't wait to see what you're like once you're on it." He always promised her that. Then one day…

"You alright?" Cloud asked snapping Aeris back to the present.

"Oh, sure. I'm fine. I was just thinking about someone." Her voice sounded far away as she spoke.

"Let's get moving then," he said to her. It was Aeris's turn to be lost. While she was recalling the past, she hadn't even noticed that the sky lift had stopped and the door had opened. She gathered her wits and exited the car along with Cloud. It cost them all but a tiny bit of their gil to get into the Golden Saucer. Cloud grumbled at the price. The ticket master tried to reassure him by saying something about a magical night but Aeris couldn't hear the explanation over Cloud's complaints and he soon led her into the Saucer.  
There first priority over anything else was to track down the Keystone. That meant finding Dio. Cloud and Aeris got lucky on the first try as they entered the trophy room for the battle arena. Under a plate of glass, much like the other trophies and various relics, sat an object that couldn't be anything but the Keystone.

"So that's the Keystone" Aeris said walking up to the display glass and put her hand against it. "I've never actually seen anything like this before. Anything that was part of …you know, something that other Ancients made." The flower girl was awestruck by the object.

"Yeah, it's something alright." He faked some enthusiasm. Cloud didn't see anything really special about it.

"Long time no see, my boy. Hmmm? You like that, huh?" The deep voice of the Golden Saucer's owner boomed.

"Yeah, actually. Can you let us borrow this?" Cloud's question was answered by Dio's deep throated laughter.

"Heh, heh, heh. Sorry, boy, but that's not up for rent." "Pleeeeaaase?" Aeris pleaded.

"You aren't the first people to come asking about it. But I already made a deal and a promise is a promise. Can't let you have it."

"Oh come on. Why not? You owe us remember?" Since begging hadn't worked Aeris switched to trying to talk sense into the man. Cloud just stood back. There weren't that many guards here and the ones that were seemed poorly armed and complacent. If all else failed he planned on taking it. There sheer numbers would be a problem but, he just might be able to fight them off and make it. Aeris would be more of a problem. He didn't trust her to be able to hold her own in a fight like that.

"Tell you what, I just thought of something. I promised somebody else that they could get it if they went into the Battle Arena. I'll make it a match. All you have to do is just win. Best I can offer you. Take it or leave it, boy." Dio put his hands on his hips and laughed. The only thing that annoyed Cloud more than constantly being called "boy" by that man was his deep laugh. It was like everything was a game to him.

"I'm in," Cloud agreed immediately. It would be better than trying to fight all the security forces and much less likely to get Aeris hurt.

"That's all good, boy. All good. You just have to give me time to set up the match then." "I'm ready." Cloud told him. Dio didn't reply to these last words. He merely walked off and started laughing again.

"Something tells me you don't like him." Aeris said to Cloud once Dio had gotten out of earshot.

"Nothing personal," Cloud said. "It's just that he treat life like it's some big kind of joke. So I guess we're just going to have to wait for him to get back…." Cloud's words trailed off. He hated waiting but didn't really have any choice in the matter. He sat down and leaned against the wall. No telling how long this was going to take. Aeris squatted down. She really didn't want to sit down completely and get her dress all dirty again. Especially in a nice place like this. Well, sort of nice. The floor in the trophy room did look a tad nasty but that was probably just because it was so close to the Battle Arena.

"What do you think we should do from here then?" Aeris asked curiously.

"Hopefully by then Cid and the others will have gotten back with the airship. From there we can take it to find the Temple of the Ancients and …you know I never really thought about what happens after that." Cloud shrugged. "I guess we just play it from ear."

"Play what from ear? What you talking about, boy?" Dio's voice came sounding out. Cloud cringed at the sound of it.

"Nothing to concern you," Cloud mumbled back.

"Everything in the Golden Saucer is my business." Dio paused. "But you deserve a bit of privacy. I just came out to tell you that the fight is scheduled for about four o'clock. Late afternoon. Have fun in the mean time in my wonderful park."

"Will do, sir!" Aeris said snapping up.

"What did you do that for?" Cloud asked Aeris when Dio was finally gone. Aeris shrugged. It was good manner but it sounded silly just saying that. Maybe she had been letting her enthusiasm show a bit too much. Especially if Cloud couldn't already figure it out. "Doesn't matter I guess." Cloud paused and looked around the room. "Now we wait."

"We can do more than that!" Aeris's excitement gave her away. "Biggest funnest place on The Planet, right? I'm sure we can find something to do." Aeris beamed.

"We're pretty much broke, Aeris. I left our gil with Tifa and Red. Most of what we have with us, we spent getting into this place."

"Oh." Aeris's enthusiasm died down immediately. "Well I guess we can still go looking around. At least that's free." Cloud expression showed that he didn't care one way or another what they did. So he got up and followed the her.

Several hours later, Cloud had felt like he'd seen everything the Saucer had and could give detailed directions on how to get to most of it. Worse yet, they were now completely out of gil. The only thing either of them had to show for it was a cartoony stuffed cactar that Aeris squeezed tightly against her chest.

"CLOUD STRIFE PLEASE REPORT TO THE BATTLE SQUARE," a voice echoed over the intercom finally. Cloud was more than ready to go. Even if Aeris was still looking around. Coming out from the travel tubes to the Battle Square they were both taken back by the large group of people gathered at the doors to the arena.

"Strife! Cloud Strife! Is there a Cloud Strife here! Mr. Strife!" A woman's voice tried to sound over the crowd of people.

"Expecting somebody?" Aeris giggled. Cloud didn't answer but tried his hardest to push through the crowd holding tightly to Aeris's wrist so they wouldn't get separated. The voice continued to call and after pushing through a particularly hefty man in a purple suit, the saw the source of the voice.

She would have been a beautiful woman but was wearing way too much makeup. Glittery makeup at that. To top that off, for some reason she had dyed her hair a bright green. Obviously a showgirl of some kind, Cloud thought. She was wearing a thick buttoned up coat on that came down to her knees. Judging by her makeup and sequined boots, though, there probably wasn't much of a costume underneath the coat. She was holing up a sign with Cloud's name on it.

"Excuse me. I'm Cloud Strife." He said walking up to her after observing her for a while.

"Mr. Strife…" she started.

"Cloud. Just call me Cloud," he interrupted her. She made a sound like she was clearing her throat and continued.

"Yessir. Cloud, my employer, the illustrious Mr. Dio had instructed me to lead you to the backstage area to get ready for the fight. He's also instructed me to give these." she pulled out a small number of tickets "To whoever was accompanying you. Honestly, I expected more people." The woman looked at Aeris partially in distaste. Aeris didn't take offense. The way she looked at it, the woman was only envious of her and her freedom to be herself.

"Thank you" Aeris smiled and pocketed the group of tickets.

"Now if you two would follow me." The woman turned. "Oh, one more last final thing." Cloud mouthed the words she had just said. "Can I have your sword?" It wasn't a question. Cloud unstraped the blade from his back and handed it over to the woman. She nearly fell over trying to lift it. "Heavy little bugger idn't it?" She chuckled lightly as she strained to lift it back up. The thick country accent she had tried so hard to hide completely broke through. Aeris's opinnion of the girl improved greatly now that her act ahd sarted to die away. "Now le's ge' moving," she said as she staggered to an employee's only door.

Once inside the dim hallway, Cloud was led backstage and Aeris pointed towards the bleachers. "Seat thirty five A. Thirty five A. Thirty five A." Aeris repeated to herself glancing down at one of her tickets. "Okay, here's 35 G," she whispered to herself. "Now where's thirty…." suddenly an arm grabbed her dress. She jerked to the side and found herself facing a dirty looking man in an ill-fitting purple suit. "Excuse me, sir! Would you mind letting go!?!" Aeris said forcefully but more than a little bit frighten as well.

"That way," he pointed.

"Excuse me?" Aeris was completely confused by the man's behavior.

"Your seat." He said with a gravely voice as he let go of her dress.

"Oh, um thanks." She said cheerfully "but you really need to learn to work on your manners." The man merely grumbled and leaned back on his seat carefully watching as the ancient walked away.

Aeris made her way down to the section she was to be seated at. Small walls separated her from the rest of the audience and for once, she was glad to be alone. From what she saw, the rest of the audience wasn't the normal wholesome fun seekers that mostly visited the Golden Saucer. They seemed a lot darker spirited and meaner. Nastier people. They reminded her somewhat of the inhabits of the slums back home.

Shesat down in her seat and made an effort to get comfortable on the worn down seats. It took her a while before she noticed that absolutely nobody was joining her in the booth. It was an uneasy feeling, being so near the crowd and yet so isolated at the same time. When she pulled out the tickets to look at them again, she realized that Dio had given all the booth tickets. These had to have been the best seats in the house. They were so close to the arena and the seats were really comfortable, much better than she had expected. Still, there was a sense of uneas that wouldn't leave her.

"Ladies and gentle, tonight we have a grand battle royale for your amusement." Dio's voice shot through the speakers. The sudden interruption of her silence and caused her to jump from her seat. "Tonight and tonight only we have a battle faced off between two of the most finely trained warriors that Shinra Inc. has got." The mention of Shinra drew very mixed results from the crowd. Some cheered and hollered while others booed and actually threw things towards the arena.

The arena grew dark, illuminated by only two spotlights. A door opened on one side of the area and a Cloud walked out. A golden silk robe had been thrown over his uniform. He seemed very uncomfortable and irritated just being there. "Straight from the branches of SOLDIER comes Kid Cloud." Dio's voice echoed again. Aeris could see Cloud shutter at the nickname Dio had chosen for him. "…and his opponent…" a door across the arena opened. The next figure wasn't' wearing a robe. He wasn't even wearing a shirt but his brightly colored hair would haven given him away to anyone that had ever seen him. "Straight from the Specialized organization known as the Turks, here comes Reno!" Reno bowed to the audience mockingly. Aeris could only imagine what may have been going through Cloud's mind at that moment.

A woman in a glittery bikini and feathered headdress came out and presented Reno with his standard weapon. Aeris had heard him refer to it on multiple occasions as his "shock stick". If there was another name for it (and she knew there had to be one) she had never heard him say it. She watched as Reno spun it around a few times for show.

It took several women to bring Cloud's buster sword at for him. In contrast, Cloud lifted it easily. He spun it around and sheathed it on his back following Reno's lead. The reaction form the audience was outstanding and Reno looked a little bit hurt that he hadn't gotten such an ovation. The girls took Clouds robe from him and then left the arena. Dio then walked out wearing a much more elaborate robe than Cloud's. He held a microphone in his hand and spoke. "Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, fight enthusiasts and gamblers alike, .. Heh… this should prove to be a most interesting battle. Don't you think? Rules are simple. No materia. One on one. Who ever's left standing at the end is the victory. Now," he turned to Cloud and then back to Reno. "Oh yeah. Try to not to kill each other. It's not exactly a rule, but it makes a mess. Now, Are you ready to rock?" "let's do the damned thing," Reno said. Cloud merely nodded. Dio walked out of the arena and the bell rang indicating the start of the fight.

Cloud drew his sword and Reno palmed the shock stick. For the first minute they did nothing but circle each other warily. "Yo' Spike, we going to fight sometime this year?" Reno called out.

"I thought you'd be to afraid to fight with out your friends backing you up," Cloud returned. He was actually starting to enjoy himself. Reno smiled back at him. They circled closer and closer. Soon they were in striking distance of each other.

"Tag, buddy. You're dead." He said as he swung the stick towards Cloud. Cloud jumped to the side moments before impact and tightened the grip on his buster sword. It took Reno a second to recover but that was still too long for Cloud to swipe back. "Not bad." Reno said as he started to back off and prepare for another attack. This time Cloud led. He charged and swung downward with his blade. The Turk rolled under the blade and struck Cloud hard in the gut. Cloud's doubled over in pain, tightly clutching his stomach. Reno took the advantage and began to club Cloud with his rod, turning down the power and letting the brute force rather than the electricity do his dirty work.

Cloud held on hard trying his best not to buckle under the assault. It took eight straight blows to the back of the head before he even dropped to his knees. Another five or so after that, Cloud fell to the ground. The audience was silent for a moment, not sure whether they should be amazed at how quick the fight was over or enraged that it was over so quickly. "You…you big JERK!" Aeris yelled out for her seat. It wasn't long before the audience joined her with more vulgar comments focused on Reno. (Except of course for the people who had bet money on him)

Reno turned away from his fallen opponent, spitting on him as he did so, and faced the audience. He looked up at them defiantly and flipped them all off.

The audience stopped booing. Reno felt satisfied with himself and lowered his finger a second before a blow from the flat side of Cloud's buster sword sent him flying across the arena.

"That… that the best you got?" Cloud said with a slight wheeze in his breath. Reno pulled himself to his feet again and twirled his shock stick a few times before taking his battle stance. Cloud furiously unleashed a barrage of slashes and thrusts that Reno dodged artfully, but relying just as much on luck as skill. Cloud was strong but with his particular weapon of choice, he was slower too.

"Hey! I could dodge this stuff in my sleep!" Reno yelled back and he continued to weave through Cloud's attacks. The only problem he had was that he couldn't safely dodge and attack at the same time. He couldn't wait until the man wore himself out either. SOLDIERs had a particularly high stamina and endurance. Cloud could keep this up for hours on end without wearing down. Reno couldn't.

He ducked and weaved as quickly as he could, trying to return his blows whenever he had the chance. None of his hits even came close. The most they did was throw Cloud's aim off. Cloud was faster and stronger than the Turk. Reno knew there just wasn't room to fight him one on one in such a small space. Reno smiled. He had an idea. Cloud pressed the attack further. It seemed Reno wasn't so tough with out his backup or that triangle prison materia he had, Cloud thought. One on one, the Turk was just another thug in a suit.

Reno stumbled as he backed away from Cloud and fell to the ground. Cloud raised his sword high to strike the man down. One less problem later on, he thought to himself. Cloud brought his sword down fast.

Aeris winced and close her eyes. While Reno wasn't the nicest man, she didn't want to see him die like that. The crowd cheered. She clenched her eyes tighter afraid to look. When the cried died down, she peaked quickly with one eye. Reno was still lying on the ground but Cloud no longer stood over him. Instead of towering over his opponent, Cloud was doubled over in pain, clutching his groin. Reno quickly slid to his feet with the grace of a puppet on strings. Then he turned and ran. Putting as much distance between Cloud as the arena would allow, he adjusted the controls on his shock stick up to the maximum setting.  
Cloud staggered to his feet again and retrieved his buster sword from where it had been dropped.

"Cheap shot." He called across the arena.

Reno shrugged. "If you're not going to go all out then all your going to be doing is decorating the teeth of a malboro somewhere." Cloud charged. Reno had watched the SOLDIER training enough to know exactly what he was doing. Cloud's feet hit the floor pushing him forward with all his momentum. He drew the sword behind his back and leapt into the air.

Reno waited, counting to himself the seconds it took for the blow to strike. It was a standard SOLDIER attack and one he had learned to counter a long time ago. If he chose to counter it.

Which he didn't. It was to late for Cloud to redirect his attack when Reno decided to duck and roll out of the way. The buster sword crashed against the fence to the arena reducing it to tangled wires. Cloud felt a strong kick to his lower back that sent his crashing through this tangle, clearing an opening for anyone who wanted to use it. Then he felt Reno's feet trample him as he made his escape.

Cloud tried to pull himself up. The wires had cut deep into his arms and snagged his shirt and pants. The pants and shirt were no problem to clear but the metal cut in his skin was. He pulled against it savagely, freeing himself and ripping fresh wounds. The audience was in an uproar. No body knew what was happening and whether it was a good thing or not. People who had placed bets didn't see a clear victor and couldn't cash out one way or another. People had started to throw things at the glass separating the audience from the fighter.

Dio thought fast. He could still make the most of it. The cameras that had been showing the fight changed to a view of Dio. "Ladies and gentlemen, the fight is still going, the security camera will be rerouted to keep your process of the fight going. Stay calm, stay seated and as always, you all enjoy your time at the Golden Saucer."

Dio quickly gave orders to reroute the video surveillance cameras to the arena camera. Soon, the cameras switched to a black and white view of Reno, hiding behind the staircase to the battle arena's main entrance waiting to strike. Dio then gave the orders to send his security team out in full force. They were to keep the normal people away from the fighting.He didn't want the fight stopped but he didn't want anybody else getting hurt either.

Cloud wasn't aware of the shift of the camera. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. He hurried out after his opponent. Once free from the arena, he stopped and scanned the area. No trace of Reno could be seen. Cloud ran to the pods expecting that Reno was trying to get out of the Saucer.

A sharp pain crashed into the back of Cloud's knees and electricity shot through his body stunning him. Reno had caught him off guard again. He was making Cloud look like a rank amateur. Cloud grimaced. He struck at Cloud again, this time his rod was blocked by the buster sword Cloud swung. The superior strength of the SOLDIER outmatched him. Reno released one hand from his weapon and planted a right cross on Cloud's jaw. Salvia flew from his mouth and he could taste blood. He spun to kick back at his attacker. Against a normal attacker, the kick would have worked, but Reno had experience. Reno grabbed Clouds leg and flipped him away. He then sped away.

Reno couldn't figure out how the man was still standing after the hits he took from the shocker. Reno raced into the trophy room with Cloud in pursuit. He ducked down behind a large shelf of important looking knickknacks and slammed his stick against the ground in frustration. It should have floored him. He examined it quietly as he heard the much noisier Cloud enter and begin his search. Reno spat a silent curse as he realized the problem. He flipped the safety switch, which kept it from lethal status off, and waited until Cloud crossed the room and was at his farthest from him. Might as well have a little bit of fun.

"Yo Spike!" Reno shouted as he jumped out. "With them glowing eyes you think you could see something, wouldn't cha'?" It sounded childish but Reno liked it.

"I'm not here to play hide and seek. Come on, let's fight" The spiky haired blonde said seriously. Reno knew that he was starting to get to the younger man. The kid had no real patience.

"Hey, I'm not playing. I am at work right now. Cool job don't ya' think?" He taunted as obviously as he could. Cloud had learned not to do a wild charges towards this enemy and approached slowly. Reno took a stance much like that of a baseball player, substituting the bat for his Electro-mag rod. Cloud raised the blade to eye level much as he remembered seeing Sephiroth do time and time again. Reno flexed slightly and waited for the SOLDIER to close the distance between them.

Except he wasn't waiting for Cloud to get into swinging distance. Reno kicked at a nearby self of trophies coughing it to tumbled towards Cloud and shower him with large decorative metal statues. Cloud held his arm up to protect his face as they stuck him. Reno stood back and watched.

He knew the soldier boy was going to pull through and all. The attack really didn't do anything but make him mad and hopefully give him a few good bruises but it was worth it just watching. Cloud clumsily fumbled though the mess kicking it out of his way as the returned to the battle. Reno had been so caught up in watching him; he had forgotten the next step of his plan. It was too late now anyways. He kicked a small object upwards to ward Cloud and charged the man. Cloud slashed and missed. Reno shot past him slamming his weapon against Cloud's arm. Enough energy to lay down a full grown Zuu charged through his nervous system. His teeth gritted so hard he could hear them cracking. His fist clenched and unclenched itself several times before his arm fell limp completely.

Cloud grabbed his buster sword with the remaining good hand and swung it at Reno. It was blocked easily. With only one hand, Cloud's control and precision was gone. Reno blocked his next wild attack. And his next. And his next. All the time getting in his own licks.

It took several moments of watching before the idea actually stuck in Aeris's head that not only was Cloud was in trouble, but there was actually something she could do to help. She jumped up from her seat with that intent when she felt the cold hard metal of a gun barrel press against her temple.

"You're not going anywhere." A females voice said. Aeris darted her eyes to the side slightly and caught a glimpse of the dirty man who had directed her to her seat earlier. "We need that keystone. That was the mission we were sent on. While I don't agree with how Reno's going off to get it, he's the boss right now so I have to go along with him."

"Who are you?" Aeris asked cautiously.

"Oh yeah, the disguise." The man reached up to removed a nasty wig and rubber face mask revealing a much more slender female face and blonde hair underneath. Aeris recognized her as the newest member of the Turks but sill couldn't think of her name. With a gun pointed to her head, though she had bigger problems than just her memory. "Let's just sit down and watch this." The Turk removed the barrel from Aeris's head and sat down right behind her out of her view. "And don't try anything. Just because this isn't touching you, doesn't mean I don't still have it pointed at you." She warned Aeris.

Aeris watched as Cloud was hammered by Reno's attacks. Reno had dropped his taunts and was now just happily wailing away at Cloud, dodging his slashes, and beating him at leisure.

"...stop..." Cloud wheezed. Aeris couldn't hear it over the monitor but the way he raised his hand up told everyone his intentions. Reno stopped, wondering what was going on. Had he decided to just throw in the towel? It would be nice to get this over with but it was also a little disappointing as well. Cloud dropped his sword to the ground. "Okay. We can go now." he smiled lunging at Reno, and toppling them both to the ground.

"What!?! No way! Not fair!" Elena shouted. She dashed around Aeris to get a better view of the screen. "He gave up! I mean, he was supposed to be giving up! That's …that's cheating!" Seeing her openining, Aerisdashed out the door while Elena ranted.

Cloud wrestled the weapon from Reno's hands and flung it across the room. Reno head butted the man. He regretted it. Reno took more damage from the attack than Cloud did. Once, again it had slipped his mind that this wasn't an ordinary person he was fighting Cloud grabbed Reno's head and slammed it down to the ground. He could feel his teeth jangle in his head. Reno didn't let the impact faze him much; he pulled his legs up and kicked Cloud off him before he darted to his feet and out the door.

Cloud raced to his sword on instinct before the numb arm reminded him it was pointless. By the time he caught ran back to the main area, the tip of Reno's pony tail was disappearing into the transport tubes.

Cloud jumped into the tubes after him. The switching gravity always made Cloud slightly wheezy anytime he used it. The gut punch once he reached the other end of it didn't help matters either. Aeris ran into the trophy room as fast as her legs would carry her. Cloud was nowhere to be seen. She found his buster sword laying on one side of the room and Reno's weapon on the other. She hurried back to the transport tubes hoping to catch up with them somewhere.

Cloud charged Reno head first. He smashed into him, staggering Reno. He followed it up with a hard left to Reno's jaw. He continued to punch the man.

Aeris rushed through the Saucer as quickly as she could, not having any idea where the two fighters could have gotten to. When she finally reached them, they were standing in a face off. Dio stood there watching. Behind him, security guards held the rest of the curious viewers safely away from the action. Neither fighter looked like they had the energy for anything fancy anymore. No tricks, no running away. Just two men standing there, hitting each other. She could smell the blood and sweat on them. For every hit Cloud gave out, Reno, who still had both his fists to use, gave two or three.

"Cloud?" Aeris asked, unsure what she should do at this point.

"Back off, I got this." He grunted and gasped for air. He took another two hits to the jaw.

"Reno!" A voice shot out from the small walkie talkie that the Turk had clipped to his belt.

"What!" He yelled into it.

"The Ancient got away! I was watching her and…well…" the voice on the other end said.

"I know that! She's right here!" Reno yelled back.

Cloud spun around while Reno's attention was diverted. His limp arm swung out. It nailed Reno in the side of the head and he dropped like a rock.

"Reno? Reno? Are you there? Hello?" The voice from the walkie talkie continued. Cloud reached down clicked the button on its side, turning it off.

"Congratulations, boy!" Dio said walking up to him. "You've won and I've made a boatload of gil off this! And never let it be said that I'm not a fair man. I'm going to give you a good 15 of the winnings and the keystone!" Dio slapped Cloud across the shoulder. "Meet me back at the trophy room and we'll settle." Several of Dio's attendants rushed forward to see to Reno and Cloud. Cloud brushed them away and, with Aeris supporting his weight, staggered off.

"Let me see your arm." Aeris said when they were both safely away from the crowds. "Can you move it at all?"

"I'll be fine. Just give me a while." Cloud sighed.

"Come on, let me help." Before Cloud could respond, she touched his arm and spun her staff around slightly. Cloud never grew tired of watching her use her healing abilities. The staff itself seemed to spin in slow motion as a warm feeling softly caressed his muscles. She stopped moving and opened her eyes back up.

"Does that feel better?" she asked.

"Lots." Cloud shook his arm but the fist still remained tightly clenched.

"What about your hand?"

"It feels good too." Cloud lied.

"Then let me see it." Aeris insisted.

"Later okay. I need to meet up with Dio and get cleaned up." Aeris crossed her arms and pouted. "Cloud Strife. I'm not going another step until you show me that hand."

"Suit yourself." Cloud began to walk away.

"I mean it!" Aeris shouted. Cloud didn't say anything. Nor did he turn back around. "Alright, that's it." Aeris said. She tackled Cloud and grabbed the glove off his hand before he even knew what was going on. Aeris grabbed his wrist and jerked it up where she could get a good look at the hand. Cloud's hand was a mass of deep scar tissue. There were several places that the skin color didn't even match the rest. "I had no idea…" Aeris said apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"

"Do you mind getting off me first?" Cloud said. Aeris's face flushed a bright red. With the shock of accidentally uncovering his injuries, it had slipped her mind that he was still pinned to the ground.

"Oh. Oh. Yes, sorry. Sorry." She got up off him and helped to dust him off. "And here's your glove back." She said meekly as she offered it to him.

"I think this one was the one you wanted to see anyways." Cloud help up his other hand. Still tightly clenched into a fist and gloved. Aeris felt like an even bigger idiot now.  
"I'll show you later, I guess…," Cloud said and hoped that she'd forget about it. "We still have to meet up with Dio."

Coming Next Chapter: the Rain, the park, and Other Things.


	11. 11 The Rain the Park and Other things

For disclaimer refer to Chapter 1 

Chapter 11: The Rain, the park, and Other things "That was actually pretty nice of Dio to give you the Keystone and all that gil like he did," Aeris smiled at Cloud as they hurried towards the exit.

"Maybe. Still, he gypped me a bit on what he said he was going to give us." Cloud continued walking with the buster sword slung over his shoulder.

"You did kind of wreck his trophy room," Aeris said softly and as no confrontational as she could. "But…," whatever she was going to say next was drowned out by a strong burst of thunder. Aeris leapt in alarm.

"You're scared of lightning. I didn't know that," Cloud said in a half questioning half concerned tone.

"No. It just caught me by surprise is all," Aeris said as she tried to regain her composure.

"How's your hand doing anyway?" She said gazing at the gloved hand that was still tightly clenched into a fist. Not one to take a half shrug as an answer, Aeris pressed the question.

"Come on. You can tell me." Thunder cracked again with a force that shook the Saucer.

"I'll be fine. Just give me a while."

"Do you want me to look at it? I know a few things about that sort of…thing." Anytime that she tried to get a secret out of him, she always tripped over her words. .

"It's nothing. Really. Besides, I already know what's wrong with it." Cloud said. As they came closer to the outside layers of the Golden Saucer, the sound of the rain pounding against the park only got louder.

"It's not going to be any fun trying to catch chocobo in this weather." Aeris said in atone that both seemed worried and seemed to try to convince Cloud to change him mind.

It wasn't just that she didn't care for the idea of riding a large bird bareback though the storm, it was, she didn't really have much say. If Cloud said they were going to do it, she knew within minutes, she'd be soaked to her skin on the back of a chocobo. She knew she'd end up catching a cold to boot.

It's going to be a lot harder to catch the attention of a certain somebody if your eyes are all puffy and snot dribbles out of your nose, she thought. Not that Cloud would ever listen if I suggesting waiting the storm out. He can just be so stubborn sometimes. She smiled at the last thought. He was stubborn, but it was rather endearing. He could be so set in one thing and so completely clueless about so much else. They finally reached the main gate. The rain was pounding against the walls and roof so hard it almost sounded like machine gun fire. By the door, a middle aged workman in a dirty ballcap was half heartedly slapping down signs around the ropeway. Cloud walked up to him and stood there for a few moments before finally catching the workers attention.

"Eh? Sorry, buddy. You gave me a bit of a start there." he said wiping a bit of sweat and grime from his brow. "I help ya'?"

"We're just leaving." Cloud said.

"In this weather? Forget it. You hear all that?" he tipped his head towards the entrance. "Wind's nasty right now and the last bolt stuck the tether line. It'd take a while to fix up. Even if the line wuz up, with the lighnin' and stuff, just wouldn't be safe to let anybody up on the thing. 'Fraid you ain't getting' out of here till it's fixed and it ain't getting fixed until the weather dies down."

"Rambles quite a bit, doesn't he?" Aeris whispered to Cloud. He made no response back, leaving her to wonder whether he hadn't heard her, or if he just hadn't thought the statement worthy of a reply.

"When's it expected to let up?" Cloud asked.

"Do I look like the almighty god of the storm? I fix stuff. Talk to a weatherman 'bout that one," he grumbled as he went back to work setting up his caution signs. Cloud began to walk back into the park with no real destination in mind. He stopped in his tracks to think about what do to and Aeris nearly ran right into him.

"I guess we're staying here for a while," Cloud said.

"I guess so." Aeris smiled back. Not only was she happy to avoid the hassle of the weather, this was just the kind of opportunity she had been waiting for. She just needed a bit of time first. "Would you mind terribly if we split up for a little bit. You can meet up with me in an hour. Make it two. Oh and I'll need some gil."

"I guess that'll work. Why?"

"Oh, just something I was thinking about. I just need a little time to do it in," Aeris giggled and quickly ran off. Cloud looked around. First thing he needed to do was take care of his hand.

When she was satisfied that she was out of his sight and he wasn't going to follow, Aeris doubled back to the shopping area. Aeris wandered around the shop set up for souvenirs and refreshments. Neither of which was what she was looking for.

First she had to rush off and try to find some place that sold perfume. She never carried any (in fact, she didn't really own any) and a theme park was the last place she had expected to find any. She got lucky when she stumbled upon a bottled with one of the cartoon moogles that served as a park mascot on it. It looked like something a little girl would buy to dress up, but there wasn't much else that fit the bill. She paid the shop keep and continued to look for the rest of the items on her list.

"Here." Cloud said as he handed a small screwdriver back to the worker at the entrance. "And thanks," he added after a moment.

"Notta prob, pal" the worker said back to him and continued tinkering with the sky lift. Cloud was left with no direction to go and no real desire to walk around either. He was walking just to be doing something. Anything was better than waiting.

Aeris ducked into the ladies room with her most recent purchases. She took a good look at herself in the mirror before reaching into the bag and retrieving the pale lipstick out fo the pretty princes dress up kit she had bought.

Cloud's wandering eventually led him to the chocobo races. There was a slight seedier side to the Golden Saucer that somebody who was really looking for it could easily be pointed to. He had to give Dio credit for that. The place could serve as family entertainment and yet if you walked to the other side of the square and passed though the unmarked doors, you found the gambling areas. Cloud was tired of the cute side anyway.

Aeris brushed her hair back and then looked in the mirror. "Oh come on, You can do better than that. You're going for perfect, " she said to herself. She ruffled her hair up and started over again.

Cloud crumbled his ticket up and threw it in the garbage. He had place 50 gil on a Green Chocobo called Slowboy who had most certainly lived up to his name. By now this was the fifth loss in a row. It was time to call it quits, he thought. He pushed his way through the crowd and headed towards a that had been carefully placed. It was far enough away from the tracks to where you couldn't smell the birds anymore and close enough to still be able to get in on the action. It was also a bar. Cloud sat down and started to look over the selection. He really had no clue what he wanted. Tifa had always been the one to pick their drinks. She really would have came in handy now. He didn't know the difference between a Gyshal Runner and an Ifrit's Extra Hard. Cloud felt a hand come to rest on his shoulder and jerked around to see a familiar crimson haired man in a wrinkled blue suit.

"Sit down. Me and you are going to have a talk." Reno told him with a breath that stank of booze and a slur in his speech.

Aeris turned her head slightly in different angles to get every view of the touch up job she had done with her makeup. Satisfied, she put it all into the travel bag she had been carrying and set off. There was just one more stop before she went back to meet Cloud.

"Hello there." Aeris said to get the attention of the obvious bored teen running the lost and found.

" 'ey." he said with a trace of boredom.

"I was hoping you could do me a really big favor." Aeris said in her cutest expression and tone of voice.

"What's that?" "Well could you hold onto this bag for me, for a while? I'll be back later on this evening to get it; it's just that I don't have anywhere to put it right now."

"Yeah sure, why not?" He said completely ignoring polices.

"Thank you!" Aeris exclaimed and practically skipped off to find Cloud.

Reno laid some gil down on the counter for the barkeep. "Give this guy what he wants." he told him. The bartender looked over to Cloud waiting for a response.

"Just get me a soda." Cloud said. His head was still throbbing from the beating he had taken earlier and saw no reason to make things worse. The bartender shrugged and poured him his drink and Cloud still half dehydrated from the fight, chugged half of it down immediately.

Reno downed another glass of liquor himself, wiping his face with his sleeve when he was done. "You know, you got a mean hook there." he said to Cloud.

"So what's your game this time?" Cloud asked. It took a moment for Reno to understand the meaning off the question.

"Nothing, actually." Reno knocked back his drink. "Beat me fair and square. I would have already split if I could. But since I can't and I'm stuck here…..well I already set my mind up that I lost and reported in. ' sides I'm off duty now."

"Generous of you." Cloud said bitterly.

"Not really. This job was basically just punishment for screwing up capturing that Ancient a while back." Reno took another drink. "Come to think of it, you had something to do with that too, didn't you? You're getting to be a real bitch, you know that?" There was a moment of silence between them. "Don't worry about it." He said although his slurred speech began to blur the words into one. "Yeah ever consider joining up with the Turks?"

"Nope. How about you switch sides to our team?" He asked even though he already knew the answer.

"You just don't pay enough," Reno said gesturing the bartender for another drink. "You're a decent Joe, you know that? I don't meet many of them in this line of work. We mighta' gotten along, if things were different." Cloud just sat there letting Reno's drunken ramblings continue on. "Somehow I doubt it though. Now get outta here, fore I change my mind." Cloud got up and walked away, taking his soda with him.

Cloud left and headed back to the entrance. He told himself that he was just checking to see if it had opened yet, but deep down he knew he was just burning time. He was spending the night here whether he wanted to or not. He eventually wandered back and sat down on an of the way bench and sat down to think and to rest.

It was several minutes after Cloud took his seat, that Aeris began her search for him. She roamed the hoping to find Cloud. The flower girl fought off the urge to dash around like a compete madwoman, but after waiting so long to finally get this kind of chance, it was tempting. After she had checked out the arcade, the battle arena, the haunted house, and pretty much everywhere in between. She had practically reached the point of frantic. "Hey, Aeris. Where are you off to is such a hurry?" Cloud's voice greeted her announcing his presence.

"Cloud?" Aeris practically jumped. "Are you alright? You look a little off." Cloud gestured for her to sit down beside him.

"I was just looking for you. We never specified a place to meet. I checked everywhere. I even went to the haunted house in case you went to get us rooms."

"That's actually not a bad idea. It looks like we're going to be stuck here tonight. It's not like there's anything else to do anyway," Cloud stood up and casually slung his sword across his back. "One more thing, real quick." Cloud's features turned to a mischievous smile. He reached won into the bushes near were he was sitting. "I went back and picked this up for you." he said pulling out the stuffed cactaur he had won for her before the fight. "You dropped it earlier."

"Before we go to get our rooms. there is one thing I'd like to do first." Aeris smiled sweetly. "Have you ever been on a date?" she asked. Cloud stopped and looked at her for a moment.

"Well…not a real one." He said. "Then let's do it. We have all night and nothing else to do. Besides, you promised me a date." Aeris said cheerfully.

Cloud scratched his head. "I thought you said you'd go out on a date with Me--"

"Then we're in agreement!" Aeris quickly cut in and quickly grabbed his hand before what she had said fully sunk into Cloud head. She practically drug him to the nearest lift tube.

"I think going to the main square would be the best place to start. From there you can decide where you'd like to take me." Aeris said innocently.

"Me?"

"Of course." Aeris smiled as she jumped down into the tube and disappeared. Cloud stood there for a moment alone. "Sometimes I wonder if she's more trouble than she's worth," he sighed aloud before decideing to follow her. Still, her enthusiasm was actually a great change of pace when compared to the rest of the group, not that he would admit it.

Aeris stood there for a moment waiting on her SOLDIER. So much time and effort tracking down all that makeup and a nice pair of shoes and he didn't even notice, she thought unsure whether or not she should be surprised at all. "If I knew that it wasn't going to matter I would have worn my old comfortable boots." She held one of her legs out to get a good look at the red heels she wore. She had gotten lucky and found in one of the stores. They weren't as nice as the ones she had used to infiltrate the Don's mansion but they were nicer than most of the things she had back home.

Cloud emerged from the shoot and dusted himself off. "Okay, so what is it you want to do tonight?"

"Tonight's Enchantment Night! All the attractions are free. How 'bout it you two? There's going to be an entertaining show in Event Square!" an announcer greeted them as he overheard their conversation.

"That sound like fun! Come on Cloud, let's go!" Cloud followed Aeris to the Square reluctantly.

"Is this where we get tickets?" Cloud asked the man at the booth.

"You're not going to need tickets! You are our 100th couple today! You two will be the leads in tonight's show!!!!" The booth man cheerfully announced.

"whoa whoa whoa. What? Us?" Cloud's stammered. He actually seemed less nervous in battle than he did right now.

"Oh, now, it's not hard. Just play it however you want to and the rest of the cast will cover for you." The man explained to Cloud.

"Just come this way." Another Saucer worker beckoned them.

"This sounds like fun. Come on Cloud, let's do it." Aeris said hugging Cloud's arm.

"but…I…oh, alright. But don't complain when you see how bad of an actor I am." Cloud joked but it was still quite obvious he was nervous.

Cloud and Aeris were led to separate dressing rooms by their escort. "Okay, just put on anything that you see in here and get ready. You, sir," he addressed Cloud, "are going to portray the part of the Legendary hero Alfred." he turned his attention to Aeris. "and you Miss, will be the lovely Princess Rosa. Keep that in mind when you choose your costumes."

Cloud entered his room and looked around. Mostly it was cheap outfits and props no better than one would expect from a school play. He picked though the lot and decided on a knight's helmet with a raised visor as well as a pair of knee high boots and a white cape. He unfastened his metal shoulder guard and wrist guard. He was debating whether or not to remove his SOLDIER belt and straps when an announcer knocked on the door.

"You're on in three minutes." he said. Cloud set his sword against the makeup desk and left the room. "That your outfit?" the man asked. "What's wrong with it? I tried to pick something that looked like a legendary hero would wear. Not that I know what someone like that would wear." Cloud explained.

"It's fine, kid. Just fine." The man lead Cloud to the edge of the amphitheatre. Cloud peered out to the stage. It was gaudily decorated with a painting of a house on the hillside and a large chocobo. The worlds "Golden Saucer" were sloppily painted in a style that Cloud assumed was meant to be cute.

"Long, long ago..." An announcer started to speak. Cloud looked around for the source of the voice but couldn't see who ever it was that was supposed to be talking. "An evil shadow appeared over the peaceful kingdom of Galdia..."

"Just let me know when my cue is," Cloud said to the man who led him to stage.

"Whenever you're ready." the man told him.

"Princess Rosa was just kidnapped by the Evil Dragon King, Valvados. What will become of her?"

"Your cue," the man said to Cloud. Cloud peered out to the audience and froze. "I see you have stage fright. Happens to the best of us," the man chuckled.

"Just then, the legendary hero, Alfred, appears!!"

"Go," the man said. Cloud was still trembling in place. "Change your mind?" Cloud shook his head in agreement. "That's okay. We can fix that."

"We can?" Cloud said starting to shake the nervousness.

"Yup." the man put his arm on Cloud's shoulder as if to comfort him. Instead, Cloud found himself pushed right out onto the stage. An actor in a tin and silver cardboard armor danced and spun over to Cloud.

"Oh... You must be the legendary hero... Alfred!" he said and took a bow to Cloud. Cloud looked around nervously and then at the audience. "Hey! It's your line, pal," the man dressed as a knight whispered to Cloud.

"Me?" Cloud whispered back and pointed to himself. He could already see some of the audience starting to chuckle.

"Yeah, you." The knight whispered again. "Ahem! You must be the legendary hero... Alfred!" the knight announced again. "I know in my soul. Please ... please save Princess Rosa! Now... Please talk... to the King....!!"

With those words an actor dressed up like the cliché image of an old wise kind pirouetted out onto the stage. Cloud rushed over to him. Best to get this over with as soon as possible. "Oh... legendary hero, Alfred. You have come to save my beloved Rosa... On the peak of a dangerous mountain... dwells the Evil Dragon King, Valvados... who's kidnapped Princess Rosa..." The king did some wild gestures with his hands before he continued. "But... you can't beat the Evil Dragon King now! Talk to one who can help you......." A man dressed up as a wizard with a fake beard danced out. Cloud looked back and forth among the group.

Well if he was supposed to be a legendary hero, the wizard would probably be the best bet. They always seemed to know what was going on in these kind of stories. What I wouldn't do for a real wizard to get me out of this mess, Cloud thought.

Cloud walked over to the man in the fake wizard robes and beard. "Help me out," he said naturally.

"I AM the great wizard, Vorman. What do YOU wish to know?" the actor boomed.

"How do you beat the dragon?" Cloud asked. His voice was a bit louder this time but nowhere near the volume the actor used. If the other actors were going to ham things up, he'd play right along with them.

"I, the Great Wizard Vormi, have found the weakness of the Dragon King to be…it must be…Yes….True Love!" Cloud fought a smirk when heard the wizard pronounce his name differently the second time.

"Yes, it must be... True love! The power of love... is the only weapon that can withstand the fangs of the Evil Dragon King...!" The Wizard exclaimed.

As if this play wasn't already hokey enough, Cloud thought.

"Oh what is going to happen next...! Oh... Legendary hero... look!" The narration sounded across the theater.

All the actors did an over exaggerated gasp as a overstuffed fake dragon swung onto the stage with Aeris in it's grips.

Cloud himself gasped as well, but for a much different reason. Aeris had taken much better care in choosing her outfit than he had. Her normal clothes had been swapped for a lowcut sparkling ballroom dress. She wore one of those pointed cone hats that Cloud had often seen princess's in story books wear as well as shinning silver slippers. Aeris looked like she had just stepped out of a fairy tale.

"Gaaaaaaah! "I am the Evil Dragon King... Valvados! I have not harmed the Princess... I have been expecting you!" Cloud nodded in approval. The voice of the dragon had a much better actor than the others he had been working with.

"Please help me... Legendary Hero!" Aeris cried out. Then she looked up at the dragon "... like that?" she whispered.

"Here I come, Legendary hero Alfred! Yes. I already know your name!" The Dragon seemed to spit the words. Cloud instinctually reached for the sword he wore across his back before realizing he left it in the dressing room. A second thought reminded him that the dragon was just another actor and didn't really mean him any harm.

"And now... Legendary Hero...! Here is what will happen... to your beloved......." The wizard spoke trying his hardest to sound melodramatic and spreading his arms to the sky. "now a KISS! The power of True Love!!" Cloud looked up and Aeris and she smiled with a look between anticipation and apology. He wondered if she knew in advance how this was supposed to end. Slowly he moved toward the dragon never loosing eye contact. The actor in the stuffed dragon suit actually backed up a few steps trembling at Cloud's gaze. Cloud slowly and surely closed the distance between them. Right in front of him, Cloud kneeled.

He took Aeris's hand and gently kissed it.

"Cloud... I mean, Alfred..." Aeris stuttered he words without blinking. Cloud raised to his feet again.

"Arrggaahhh!! Curses...... The power of... love!!" the Dragon wailed as pulleys lifted it up and towed it off stage. The Knight, Wizard, and King all ran, or rather danced, over to were Cloud and Aeris stood.

"Oh... look! Love has... Triumphed!" the king announced to the audience. "Now lets all return... And celebrate." The wizard over exaggerated his nodding in agreement.

"Yes let's... yes let's...!" he whispered to Cloud and Aeris, "Okay this is the big exit. Ready?" Cloud gazed down at his princess.

"Ah heck, why not?" He gave her a goofy little smile. Together they all danced off stage.

"Oh, how profound the power of love... And so the legendary hero Alfred and our story live on happily ever after." The narrator spoke as they left.

Backstage, the actors peeled away their beards, wigs, and head gear leaving hem much more comfortable. "Not bad." the wizard said as he lit up a cigarette. 'you took a little while to get going but otherwise, I think you did a bang up job."

"You had me fooled." a grizzly bearded man with deep sunken eyes walked up. When he saw the look of unrecognizing on their faces he said, "I am the evil dragon king." with out changing the one of his gravely voice at all.

"I thought you sounded familiar." Cloud said.

"Would you like a vide tape of your performance out there," the knight asked them. "They don't cost much."

"I'll pass." Cloud said. It wasn't like he actually owned a TV anyway. "We'll just change back into our stuff and get out of here."

"Speaking of clothes" Aeris pointed down to Cloud's feet. "Knee high shiny black boots with baggy pants and a cape? What were you thinking?" "I figured it looked like something a legendary hero would wear." He tugged at his pants as he explained his choice a second time. "Tsk tsk. You simply have no fashion sense." Aeris told him. "Me and you are going to have to go clothes shopping together sometime." Aeris giggled. The rest of the actors laughed as well.

"Maybe not." Cloud shrugged. "But we probably need to get going anyways"

"Alrighty. Just let me get changed again." Aeris said as she rushed to her dressing room.

"So how long have you two been together," The man dressed in the knight's costume asked Cloud after Aeris had left earshot.

"It's actually kind of complicated." Cloud told him. "Frankly, I'm not really sure myself exactly how our relationship is going. Heck. I'm not really sure what our relationship is"

"Been there," The king added with a deep belly laugh.

"Yeah but she really seems like she likes you and all." The man who played the dragon told him.

"You think?" Cloud sat down and began to remove the high boots he had been wearing.

"It's pretty obvious." He knight said. "We see this sort of thing all the time. In fact…"  
'Just great.' Cloud thought. I'm going to have to sit here and listen to their stories. 'Guy probably doesn't even know what he's talking about. Of course it seems like Aeris likes me. She likes everybody.' Cloud looked up. 'And this guy is still talking'

When Aeris finished changing and returned fifteen minutes later, she found Cloud in extensive conversation with the actors. They talked about various relationships they had seen and what worked, what didn't and what was just plain weird. If he was trying got get some extra knowledge on the subject or romance, she definitely wasn't going to interrupt. Aeris took a seat behind Cloud quietly.

"At the very least, the date should go better." Aeris smiled without realizing that she had spoken out loud.

"Aeris?" Cloud turned to face her. "How long have you been back here? … No. never mind. Let's get going." Cloud eagerly said. Guess I blew that one, Aeris thought as Cloud led her away.

"Sounds like the weather's let up a bit. Bet they still haven't fixed the line though. So what do you want to do now?" he asked when the reached the Station Square.

Aeris knew immediately. "Let's go on the gondola." Zack had told her about it years ago and she had wanted to ride it ever since. Still, even though Zack had been gone for years, part of her still felt guilty. Like going on the ride with another would be cheating on the memory she had of him. She wondered how much of the sights she could truly enjoy with that hanging over her.

"Enjoy the sights of the Gold Saucer." The ticket taker said snapping Aeris out of her reminiscing. She stepped into the gondola followed by Cloud. The door closed behind them and the gondola started to lift. Aeris could feel the change in height as the ride took off. She peered out the window to the ground below.

"Wow, how nice," she said. Being this far above everything, her problems seemed so insignificant. She glanced back over at Cloud. He had kicked back in his seat and was looking towards the same window she was. Except he wasn't looking at the sight. He was watching her. Aeris blushed and quickly turned back to the window looking out on the multicolored spotlights that shone on them and the rides far below.

The gondola dipped downward and she recognized what was coming up. "Look, Cloud." She called out as the chocobos raced by them. They rode along side the race track for a time and lifted back into the air. Fireworks lit up the sky. "It all looks so different from this high up. It's so pretty." Aeris said in amazement. Just like Zack always told me, she thought for a fleeting instant. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" she said regretfully as she hung her head. "It bothered me at first," she confessed "how two completely different people could be so alike. The way you walk, gesture…it's exactly the same…I think I saw him in you….But you're not him. You're different. Everything's different now… I'm different … I … What I'm trying to say is … I want to know you. The real you. I..." Aeris stopped silently.

Aeris felt Cloud's fingers underneath her chin, gently lifting her face until she was gazing into his glowing mako eyes.

"It's alright, Aeris. There's things I don't understand either. Things that just don't make sense. But you taught me differently."

Aeris's eyes lit up. "What do you mean, what did I teach you?" she asked.

"That some things just don't matter. There are more important things to take their place." Cloud said softly.

"Like Tifa"

Cloud was silent for a moment. "That's not what I meant. He drew back slightly and began to remove his gloves. She had already seen the scars that covered his hand. Then he removed the other glove. It took her a moment to recognize what she was looking at. It seemed to be a perfectly ordinary normal hand. But it was too perfect. To normal. There were no scars, hairs, misshaped knuckles, or anything. It was fake. Plastic and metal and rubber made into the image of a human hand.

"I had no idea…" the words escaped her mouth. She had to say something but she wasn't sure what. "Did it hurt? Getting it I mean"

"I don't remember getting it. Funny right? You'd think you'd remember something like loosing your hand. But there's lots of things I don't remember. … Memories floating in my head that make no sense." Aeris took hold of his prosthetic by the wrist and touched his fake hand to her cheek.

"I can feel that." Cloud muttered.

"I'll be here for you, Cloud. No matter what happens, I'll be there. Maybe together, together we can both find the real Cloud." She said. The ride came to a stop and the door opened. "Everything will be alright." She said, but she wasn't sure if she was talking to herself or Cloud.

Coming Next Chapter: As I lay me down.


	12. 12 As I lay me down

(for disclaimer, please refer to chapter 1.)

Chapter 12: As I lay me down

The SOLDIER and the Cetra entered the Ghost Hotel and walked past the comically spooky decoration toward the front desk. The bell gave a loud screech as Cloud rang for service. As he did, a mock ghost called Mr. Hangman dropped from the ceiling. Even though it was expected, it's sudden appearance never failed to cause Aeris to jump.

"We'd like rooms," Cloud said. For some reason it didn't strike him at all odd to talk with a battery operated puppet made to look like a corpse.

"I'm sorry," it said. Mr. Hangman's voice was designed to be spooky but came across as silly. "There's no more room here tonight for the living"

"Nothing, huh?" Cloud didn't know whether to depart or to argue. It turned out he didn't have to do either. Aeris interrupted.

"You don't even have a single room? Not one?" she asked. Unlike Cloud, she felt a rather peculiar talking to the figure before them.

"There's no more room here tonight for the living." It repeated.

"Come on, we aren't going to get anywhere like this." Cloud told her with a tug on her arm.

"Where?" She asked. "Where else do we have to go to?"

Cloud put his hand to his chin and thought hard for a moment. "I guess we could see if Dio would put us up. I doubt it, though. … Or maybe Ester. 'Course I didn't see her at the track and well, I barely know her…." He let his words trail away into nothing.

"I wonder were Cait Sith used to sleep?" Aeris asked.

"You know Cait Sith?" somebody spoke up from the corner of the room. They looked to see an actual living breathing human caretaker in the hotel. The man's face had been painted to make it look more like a skeletons and he wore a bowtie decorated with little cartoon bats. He was at least in his forties, nearly bald, and somehow less frightening than the rubber bats hanging from the ceiling.

"Yes," Aeris told him. "He's our friend."

"Well, why didn't you say so? For Cait Sith's friends we can make an exception. Perks of the job you see," he said with a half wink. "I wish you would have given us a prior warning though. Right now, we only have one room we have that we're not using. I warn you though, it's not pretty." The man told them. "Frankly, we're not even supposed to have anybody in it. Run down, and all, but considering you're friends of …,"

"We'll take it." Cloud jumped at the offer. They quickly paid the man a surprisingly low rate and he led them to their room after a quick detour to the linen closet for fresh sheets. It had been a long day and both travelers were more than ready to turn in for the night.

"Down the hall. Last Door. Very last door," the man told them as he pointed down the empty hallway. Cloud looked down at the room number engraved on the key. They approached the door to find a comically ominous sign hat said, "This room sealed for your protection" in lettering designed to resemble either dripping blood or slime. It was hard to tell in the poor lighting. Cloud turned his key in the lock and struggled with it a little bit. It hadn't been opened in a while, it seemed.

Stale musky air met them as the entered. The rest of the building was designed with a mocking run down appearance to give it a sort of silly creepy feeling. This room however was the real deal. It was completely run down. White sheets covered the furniture, they in turn were covered with a thin layer of dust. The air condition was laying against the wall in pieces from where somebody had attempted to fix it. A drop of water fell on Cloud's head as he was scanning the room. Apparently the room leaked to.

"How…." Aeris paused to look for a word that wasn't too insulting, "… quaint."

Cloud walked to the bed and flipped the dusty cover off the bed and did little more than flop the new sheets they had been given into place. He debated whether it was worth actually making the bed up or not. Eventually he decided to go ahead an make it, but only because Aeris was there. He would have been happy to just toss then down and gone to sleep himself.

"Oh." she said without meaning to as certain thoughts quickly crept into her mind. "I have to go get something real quick." She excused herself and quickly dashed out the door to retrieve the items she had left in the lost and found earlier.

It was all fine by Cloud, he needed a moment anyway. He stripped down to his pants and then tossed rest of his clothes in the corner. It felt so good to get those heavy boots off. He sighed in relief as he plopped down on the bed. With his hands folded behind his head, he waited for Aeris's return. After a few minutes, he got up, folded his clothes and laid back down. No use looking like a total slob, he reminded himself.

Several minutes passed as Cloud laid on the bed. He was tired, but he wasn't particularly sleepy. He had way too much on his mind. 'Too much to think about and not enough energy to concentrate on anything in particular,' he thought to himself. He glanced back at the closed door. No. that wasn't true. There was one person that took a unusually large portion of this thoughts at the moment. He chuckled. He knew he was just trying to lie to himself. Things weren't that simple. Not that he really had the time to do anything about his problems as long as Sephiroth was still out there. He weighed his options and toss around ideas though his head while he waited.

Aeris returned several minutes later, clutching the stuffed toy Cloud had given her earlier as well as a small bag. The toy had already slipped his mind completely. She stood in the open door way for a moment. Cloud spoke up without moving from the bed.

"Ready to call it a night, or what?" Cloud said to her. "I was kinda' waiting for you to get back before I crashed." Aeris looked around the room nervously.

"Well, yeah. I'm ready…but…," he could tell from the tone of her voice that something was troubling her already even before she finished. "…um…we only have just that one bed." Her face was blushing as brightly as the jacket she normally wore.

Cloud sat up partially and looked around. He was tired alright. The sleeping arrangements had never even flickered across his mind. "I'll sleep on the floor," he said raising up.

"No!" Aeris quickly shouted out. "I mean…" her face seemed flooded with embarrassment. "I mean, we're both responsible adults. Friends. I mean, we can both sleep in the same bed without …, you know, any problems," Aeris flushed with embarrassment. "as friends," she finished.

"You win." Cloud said smacking an empty space on the bed next to him. Aeris blushed even redder. Cloud didn't notice. In fact, he was completely oblivious to all her anxiety and awkwardness.

"Not … not what I meant. I mean…," she really had no clue what she meant. She had never slept in the same bed as a man before and in a way she couldn't be more excited, but in another way she couldn't have been more nervous.

She would never admit it to anyone, but she had never been more nervous in her life. Even when they had faced down Jenova in the Shinra cargo ship, she had a certain confidence about her. This was different. Much different. She wasn't sure how far things were going to go between them, how far she wanted them to go, or even how far she would LET them go.

"You going to just stand there all night? I thought you wanted to get ready to sleep," Cloud interrupted her thoughts. She tried to respond him but her words got caught in her throat.

"oh…oh yeah…," Aeris mumbled when she finally found words. It was then she remembered the bag she was still holding. "Just let me get … ready," Aeris hoped she didn't sound nearly as nervous as she felt. She tried to tell herself that this was just like any other time in the field. They had slept side by side on quite a few occasions. This was different though. This wasn't just the field. This was a bed. She wasn't sure why, but that made all the difference in the world.

She bent down to untie her boots and slip them off. She stood up and handed them over to Cloud, gesturing to him to place them next to his at the foot of the bed. "Thanks. Now could you please turn around while I…um…you know," she asked Cloud. He did as she said without any argument. "Okay, now don't turn back around until I say it's alright. I'm changing. No peeking, okay?"

When she was sure that he had turned around and wasn't going to peek, she began to undress. Nervously she fumbled with the buttons on her dress, thankful that she didn't wear a dress that buttoned up the back like most women.

When she had slipped her dress off, she stood there for a moment trembling. "what's gotten into you, Aeris?" she whispered to herself and burst into silent giggles. 'I can't believe I'm doing this,' she thought. 'I wonder what would happen if he turned around right now?' she thought. Then an even naughtier thought appeared. 'What would happen if I told him it was okay to turn around right now?' It was a wicked idea and one she knew she could never go though with, but the inkling stayed with her.

Cloud sat there completely still, waiting for the word from Aeris. He was perfectly aware that from the other side of the room, less than twenty feet away even, Aeris was standing there at least partially undressed. Naturally, he couldn't help but think about it, despite how the notation of sharing a bed with her had completely eluded him. None the less, he wasn't going to turn until he was one hundred percent positive that she was dressed. Anything else, and she would never talk to him.

Aeris continued to undress. 'I can't believe I'm doing this. I can't believe I'm doing this.' Aeris kept repeating in her head. I never even let Zack see me in a two piece swimsuit and here I am almost naked, she thought.

Lost in his own imagination, ti took Cloud a moment to realize that he was still holding Aeris's boots. Hoping she didn't notice how he had spaced out, he quickly set her boots down next to his. It took a high concentrated effort for him not to glance backwards as he did. He continued staring at wall, waiting for Aeris to finish changing. What was taking her so long, he couldn't help but wonder. Glancing back down at the boots, he pushed his socks further down in them. Where they had once been white, they were now a dirty gray and even brown in spots. Definitely not anything he needed her to notice. Something about Aeris's boots caught his eye, and he spent a moment studying them to try to figure out what it could be.

Aeris turned. Cloud was sitting there on the edge of the bed with his back to her. She was almost naked and filled with both wonder, expectation, embarrassment and shame. It was so tempting. So very tempting. …

Cloud chuckled lightly. It took him a minute but he finally figured out what it was about the boots that caught his attention. They were almost the same size. He had noticed Aeris's large boots before but had never put two and two together and thought that big boots might come from big feet. It actually made him feel better about himself and what he thought of her. Proof that she wasn't quite as perfect and pure as she sometimes seemed.

"You can turn around now," Aeris said startling Cloud. First he quickly shot a look down at her feet. He had been right. The he looked up at the rest of her.

Aeris had slipped on a long nightshirt that looked brand new. It came down about as far as her dress but hung much more loosely on her, completely hiding her figure.

"Nice." Cloud said pointing at the picture decorating the shirts chest.

Aeris pulled her shirt down slightly and looked at the design herself. It was a cartoon picture of Dio waving as he rode a smiling chocobo. "Oh. You like it? Well it was either this or the line of moogles dancing. I liked this chocobo better and Dio actually looks kinda cute with the oversized head and everything."

"Are you alright? You look a a bit redfaced." Cloud asked her.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking about something. Still, is it just me or is it just a tad warm in here?" She smiled as sweetly as she could. She would never tell him what she had been thinking. Ever.

"Ready for bed then?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Aeris and Cloud each walked to their own side of the bed. Cloud pulled the cover back and slid in. Aeris, knelt by the opposite side of the bed, closed her eyes and bowed her head.

"Huh?" Cloud muttered feeling awkward laying in the bed that she was knelt by. "What's up?" Aeris held up one finger motioning him to wait. After a few more seconds, she opened her eyes, raised her head and climbed into bed, careful to leave at least on layer of sheets and a bit of space between them.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I was praying, silly"

"Okay," he said. The tone in his voice was that of a child who wanted to know something but was too afraid to ask the question.

Aeris smiled kindly. Sometimes he could just be so clueless and cute. "I was asking the Planet to watch over us. To guide us along and make sure that everything works out in the end. Don't you have anything that you believe in?"

Aeris turned to face Cloud but he had turned himself. She was left looking at the back of his head.

"Fairy tales." he muttered. "just fairy tales."

"What?" she had heard him plainly but wasn't sure what he meant. It sounded like he was insulting her, but it didn't fit his character at all. He couldn't be insulting her beliefs, could he?

"I believe in fairy tales." He paused for a moment and then continued. "Or at least I used to. You know, knights riding in at the last minute on white chocobos, wielding their magic swords and rescuing the princess just in time. Happy ever after. You know, fairy tales."

"Is that why…"

"I joined SOLDIER…" Cloud paused. "Maybe. I dunno really."

"I'd like to believe in them." Aeris chirped. "I think ever girl would like their hero swoop in and save them."

"I promised Tifa…," he paused and she did too. It was the first time either of them had really thought of her in the last few days. "Anyway, I promised Tifa once that I'd come save her if she was ever in a jam. Instead I got to sit their and watch her bleed after Sephiroth nearly sliced her open. She still has the scars."

"Don't blame yourself. You always focus on the bad stuff. How many other times have you came through for her since? Or for me? If it wasn't for you, I'd still be in Hojo's lab," she shivered as she thought of what that mad doctor had planned for her.

"Thanks." Cloud said with a tired voice. "Thanks. … Just for being you. … G'night 'Ris. Glad you finally got to go on the skyride." Cloud clicked off the lamp on the night stand enveloping the room in darkness.

"Sweet Dreams, Cloud."

Aeris stayed awake for a few moments longer. She would have hated herself if she had give in to her more base desires. Just being here with him was nice enough. She could hear his breathing, smell that strong musky smell that men always gave off, and feel the heat from his body. Such a nice feeling, she sighed with a grin so wide it threatened to overtake her entire face. Then she laid back and waited for sleep to take her.

Suddenly her eyes grew wide and the shock of what Cloud had said shook all the sleep from her system. Just a few little words. …

Nobody ever called her 'Ris and she had never told anyone how much she had wanted to go on the skyride.

Nobody that is, except Zack.

Coming Next Chapter: Workin' for a living


	13. 13 Working for a living

(for Disclaimer refer to chapter 1)

Chapter 13: Working for a living

Reno had propped himself against the wall to keep upright. He had already given up on the idea of standing. It just seemed like too much work. Elena had force fed him a few potions that had barley cut though his alcoholic haze. Still, for the moment at least, he was quite far from sober. More importantly, he was glad of it. He definitely wouldn't have been able to put up with this is he wasn't drunk.

"What do you mean, you lost our room key!" Elena yelled. "That was the last vacant room they had! It was bad enough we had to share it!" She turned away from him in disgust. As he left her sight, her tone seemed to calm. "Yeah, okay. We screwed up and that's the only reason we had been assigned to this mission. Then we screwed up this mission, didn't get the keystone or the Ancient, but at least we some place to sleep for the night. We don't even have that now."

"I didn't loose it." Reno tried to explain to her again. " I saw somebody and gave 'em the key. Or something. That much I remember. I ran into somebody I know and I gave them the key." Somebody asked about you and I gave 'em. Something like that anyway. Something like that."

"There's only two other people we've seen in this place and those were the AVALANCHE terrorists. They'd be long gone by now. Regardless, it just doesn't matter. We don't have the key. There's nobody at the front desk, and we don't have any other place left to sleep."

Reno shook his head in disgust. "she can ruin a good …" he searched for the word but couldn't think of anything that even came close to fitting, "Good drunk-ness." Reno liked the way that sounded. In his hazed over mind it actually seemed quite clever. "You can sure ruin a good drunkness," she said aloud to her. Elena just looked at him coldly.

It was simply a disgrace. She never could understand why anybody would allow themselves to get as inebriated as Reno presently was. It was just indecent. She turned back to the door and sighed again.

"We're going to end up sleeping in the hall. I just know it," she muttered.

"What's that?"

"Nothing."

"You said something'. Reno pulled himself to his feet with a bit of effort. Thought he was wobbling a bit. "now as the highest ranking guy here, I'm pullin' rank. You said something'. What was it?"

Elena grimaced. Right now Reno was hardly in his right mind, but he did outrank her. Regardless of personal feelings, she had to say something. "I was just commenting on how we can't get in. The same way I've been doing for the last few minutes." After a bit of thought she added, "sir." It was cold and didn't feel right at all. She made a mental note to read though the regulations about following orders from an intoxicated person. It probably fell somewhere under mental incapacitation, but she needed the regulation itself to be able to back her on it.

"Yeah. We can't get in." Reno pulled out a 9 mill and fired directly at the lock. "Now we can." Reno said. He kicked the door and the remainder on the lock came off as the door itself flew open. Elena just stood there. She wasn't sure what to think. This was definitely going in her report. She was just glad Reno usually kept a silencer on his pistol. "ladies, first" he said with what was either a bow, or his inability to stand up straight.

She looked around the room. It wasn't the best the Saucer had to offer, but it was one of their better accommodations. It was also intended for a one person occupancy something that Elena most certainly wasn't comfortable with.

"Well, let's hit it then," Reno said stumbling past her. "Oh yeah, just so's ya' know. I sleep naked."

Elena gave her best twisted smile. "Good. I sleep with the air conditioner cranked up to max." Just in case he didn't get it she added, "So it's cold." A moment passed between them. Their eyes locked in a battle of wills and stood there for a moment without movement of sound.

"You're point," Reno said.

"and you get the floor," Elena said tossing a pillow from the bed into an empty corner of the room.

"No wait just a se-"

"You're NOT pulling rank on me this time."

"Give me a sheet," Reno said yanking the heavier of the two blankets from the bed. "Don't think you're not hearing … stuff…reported about this later." He finished. I was intended as a threat, but with his muttered stammering, it was more humorous than anything. She doubted he'd even remember in the morning.

Elena removed her jacket and tie. She sat down on the bed to remove her socks and shoes as well. Reno watched her intently and all too obviously to see what else she was going to take off. As it turned out, not much. She sat down on the bed and removed her shoes and socks. She made it as obvious as she could that her pistol was going to be loaded and within easy reach as she removed it from her holster and placed it on the nightstand.

Reno shook out his blanket a few times, and after a bit of trial and error, decided on laying it out, laying on it, and then folding part of it over him.

"I don't get paid enough for this kind of abuse," he muttered. Elena wasn't sure if it was meant as a joke or not.

"All part of the job," she added. It seemed like a nice mid-ground thing to say. She clicked off the lamp and the room went dark.

"Goodnight, Reno." She said with a sweet triumphant tone.

"Fuck you too."

"In your dreams."

"Every night, babe."

Coming Next Chapter: Two faces have I


	14. 14 Two faces have I

(For disclaimer, refer to chapter 1)

Chapter 14: Two faces have I

Reeve sat behind his handcrafted mahogany desk in his penthouse apartment, a victim of insomnia. Absentmindedly, he shuffled a deck of tarot cards as he pondered the current turn of events.

"Am I doing the right thing?" he asked the Cait Sith robot sitting deactivated on his desk. The cat sat there with his false smile silently. "I'm on the right side, aren't I?" After a moment of thinking he asked another question. "Is there a right side?"

He had personally signed the condolence letters to the families of those killed in AVALANCHE's reactors bombings. He could have assigned the task to one his many underlings but he handled ever letter himself. He thought he owed the survivors them that much. Somewhere on his desk, he still had the list of names. He set the tarots down and flipped though the papers he had brought home with him. The casualty reports were here somewhere.

It was a different paper that caught his attention, however. A detailed report of the environmental concerns of the city. Despite whatever else they may do and think, AVALANCHE was right about this. Shinra was killing the Planet and it was dying a little faster everyday. 

The problem he faced was that neither side was completely right, nor where they wrong and if they both continued to go about things they way there were headed, it would only lead to more innocents caught in the crossfire. That's why he had to stop his friends and turn them in. Reeve stopped completely as the thought stuck in his mind.

Friends? Did he really consider them friends? What did they think of him? He shook the thoughts away. It didn't matter in the end. They were a very interesting bunch at least and for a while they did treated him as a friend. But were they the kind of people he wanted as friends? A small band of terrorists; a deserter from SOLDIER, two escaped lab experiments, a self proclaimed master thief, to name a few.

Then there was the man who called himself Vincent Valentine.

The man that claimed to be a former Turk. Not just any Turk. Reeve, out of curiosity, had read Vincent's file. It had been a thick one filled with accolades, awards, and accommodations. It also made frequent references to his reputation for both cruelty and efficiency, not to mention his pride over his record setting body count. There was a psychological profile that listed him as being completely immoral, egotistical, and mentally unstable but the report, who had been filed by a much younger Hojo was the only trace of a medical record he could find on the man.

Thinking about some of the things Vincent had done made him ill as the reports had been written in rather graphic detail. He prayed that the caped man he knew wasn't the real Vincent Valentine.

True the man in the cape was too young, but he didn't seem it. His eyes looked very …heavy? Old? Weary? Reeve wasn't quite sure, there was something there but it was like quicksilver. You couldn't place you finger on it no matter how hard you'd try. It would keep eluding you, slipping out of you grasp at the very touch. Vincent or the man calling himself that had a story that he simply wasn't telling. 

A loud ringing broke the silence and Reeve's contemplations. Quickly he looked around to find it's source. Buried under the papers was the PHS he had taken from his team. His team? He didn't have time to get into that again. Quickly he raced for the remote controls he had for Cait and threw the switches activating only the most rudimentary of it's functions. Reeve placed the voice transmitter to his mouth so his words would be translated into the tone and voice of his cat companion.

Cait Sith Picked up the PHS with jerky motions. 

"Hey it's your gil. Talk to me." he answered in Cait Sith's voice.

"Hey Sith, this is Tifa. How's everything?"

"Good good. We ran into a little problem. Well the rest of the gang kinda did, not me though."

"Nothing too serious I hope."

"I'm all hunky dory. The rest of the team is resting up right now," he paused. "Listen, we might be gone a bit longer than expected. Just stay there and give everybody my best."

"Oh." Tifa was silent for a moment. "Actually that what I was hoping you'd have heard. Cloud ran off with Aeris tagging along and I can't raise either of them on the line. I was hoping you'd heard from them."

"Well you know how Cloud gets. If he's off doing something, everything else will just have to wait. Of course he could just be out of range," he kindly suggested.

"Maybe. But something tells me that's not it. I know you're one who's supposed to be the fortune teller but I really have the feeling that something's…I don't know. I guess I'm just being silly." Tifa finally closed her own statement.

"I'm sure they can take care of themselves." Cait said.

"Well, I guess. … yeah…anyways, if anything happens or your hear from them, give me a buzz."

"Not a problem, little lady."

"Catch you later." Tifa clicked her PHS and hung up.

"Yeah, catch you later," Reeve said to no one. He clicked the buttons to run Cait Sith's AI programs. He had considered holding a conversation with it, but it had been designed to reflect the optimistic side of his own personality and the last thing he needed was to hear him tell himself to cheer up.

Reeve grinned. 

"Sheeesh. Sitting alone talking to a robot cat. I'm getting as bad as the rest of the crew, ain't I?" he directed towards the robot.

Again his thoughts came back to the Turk. There was something completely wrong when you compared the records to the man himself. Unfortunately enough, when it came down to it, there were only a few men would really be able to confirm or deny the claims he made about his own identity.

Rufus, of course, had access to all the records. Asking him would only result in a strong chastising for meddling in other people's business.

Heideggar held all the Turks records. However he could be quite a paranoid and was madly obsessive over what was he considered his.

Tseng would have access but Reeve would often go months without seeing or evening hear anybody talk about him.

That left Hojo.

God help him, when Hojo was the lesser of the evils, everything had truly gone to shit.

Reeve petted Cait Sith and then placed his hand cautiously on top of the tarot deck with the intention of flipping the top card.

He sat alone in the lap of luxury with no one but a mechanical cat for company. He took his hand off and retired to his king sized bed. It would be a long time before he went to sleep however.

If he had bothered to turn the card over, he would have been greeted by the Fool card.

Coming Next Chapter: Bad Buisness Man


	15. 15 Bad Buisness man

(For Disclaimer, refer to chapter 1)

Chapter 15: Bad Business Man

"So when do you figure they're brining chow?' Cid groggily asked as he raised from the hard wooden bunk he slept on. There was no immediate answer. Cid rubbed his eyes and looked around the small cell.

"Cait Sith that damned Shinra spy got us locked up here and all yer worryin' abouts you Fucking stomach. You ever thought that meybe just meybe he's lurrin' the others into some kinda trap," Barret was sitting on the floor. After hours of pounding against the door and cussing the previous night, he had finally given up. Now he only screamed his curses and threats when he could see the Shinra workers pass by the cell. Or when his cell mates gave him reason too.

Vincent was standing with his back towards them and looking out into the darkened hallways. His unmoving mechanical arm hung limp giving him a crooked stance. "Consider us lucky if they decide to feed us at all." Vincent said without looking back.

"Yeah. That's pretty much what I thought too." Cid reached to the pack of cigarettes he always kept tucked into his goggles only to be reminded that they had also been confiscated.

"What's on today's schedule?" Reeve asked his secretary as he walked to his office for the first time that day.

"At eight o'clock you have the meeting with mayor Domino and Hart. Ten thirty is the rehearsal for the radio interview tomorrow. You have a lunch meeting with the head of the Industry for Environmental Devices…after that you're dancing naked on the top of Burger Time and then you're buying me a new car," she finished.

"Hmmm?" Reeve murmured.

"I was testing you. You really aren't paying any attention, are you?" she said with a smile.

"Sorry, Em. I have other things on my mind today." Reeve said.

"Seems pretty important to you. You might want to consider shaking them before your meetings. I can't remember the last time I saw you this down."

"Sure you do. When I misspelled the name on the birthday cake I brought you." Reeve never bothered to turn to face her but continued to stare out the window.

"You still remember that? How many times have I told you to let that go? It's not like anybody else even bothered to get me anything that year. But we're not sidetracking into my social life right now."

There was a pause. Reeve had nothing further to add to the conversation. "Do I have anything planned with the other Department heads today?" he finally asked getting back to business. His secretary paused as she called up the full schedule on her computer screen.

"Nothing, sir."

"In that case, we need to make something. Emily, cancel all appointment today. Move them to tomorrow, if possible. I have something I need to take care of. Get a hold of Professor Hojo for me, would you?" Reeve's voice was pure business. He then walked to his office and closed the door behind him.

"I can't hear them," Vincent shattered the silence of the cell.

"What the holy hell are you talking about this time?" Cid cursed. Vincent didn't answer. He smashed his fleshy fist against the wall. Neither Barret nor Cid thought much of this. Especially since Barret already took his turn banging against the walls. Then the former Turk smashed his head against the cold steel walls of the cell.

"The fuck?" Barret exclaimed in confusion.

"Damned bastard's gone whacked on us," Cid tossed back as an explanation.

Barret leapt up and grabbed Vincent to prevent him from hurting himself more. "What's yer problem?" Barret yelled at him.

"I can't hear them. I can't feel them," Vincent said. Blood was pouring down the gashes he had made in his forehead. The color of his blood matched his headband almost perfectly. Cid joined Barret in helping Vincent to one of the bunks. When he had been set back and leaned against the wall, Cid ran to the door and began yelling for medical help.

"Shaddup! Ain't nobody gonna come here and help!" Barret yelled to him. "damned foo' just gone ape Shit on us and smashed his own face up!"

"No. I….have ….a plan," Vincent muttered as he faded into unconsciousness.

Hojo was bent over a microscope wearing both protective gloves, goggles, and a small breathing apparatus. He had concocted several experiments with Jenova cells before and on extreme rare occasions, certain mixtures would release highly irritant gasses. He found that in his present poor health, it was always better to take precautions rather than risk additional illness.

He took a small beaker and extracted some of the blood inside with an eye dropper. Then he placed a small glass slide on the microscope near him and took a translucent blue liquid from another beaker.

"Recording begin," he prompted the voice activation software on his cameras and vocal recorders. Hojo glanced at some note he had made for himself. "Procedure 97423." He told the machines recording his words. "Time Zero eight three two hours….," he administered two drops of blood on the tray. "And now, it's show time," he grinned as he placed added the clear fluid to the substance and quickly rushed his eyes to the microscope.

From his viewing point, he could see a struggle at the cellular level of his two subjects. Gradually, the DNA from the clear liquids began to cause a violent reaction resulting in the blood becoming little more than a twisted mutant reflection of the blue liquid.

"Fascinating," Hojo said with wonder. "It seems that the despite both of their genetic compatibilities with humans, when combined together, the Jenova cells first deform then kill the DNA structure of the Ancients. Assuming of course that the 19 difference between the test subject and a pure Cetra doesn't…,"

The phone rang interrupting the scientist's thoughts. This better be good, Hojo said quite cross. Hojo shut off the recordings. "What do you want?" he said transferring his phone line to speaker settings.

"Sorry to disturb you Mister Hojo," the a female voice on the other end of the line said.

"Professor Hojo," he corrected her quite firmly.

"Oh I'm so terribly sorry, Professor. This is …"

"Get to the point, woman." Hojo reprimanded her. He could hear the nervous stammer in her voice. He tended to get that a lot. People seemed to tip toe around him. People seemed to think that he spent his time imaging what he could do to them in his lab. Which was the truth.

"Mr. Reeve wants to set up an appointment with you, professor. Preferable today if at all possible." Hojo scowled at the woman's words.

"Yes yes. Tell him to meet me at the ... No never mind. I'll be up that way," Hojo told her before cutting the transmission.

From her end of the line, Reeve's secretary gulped. Those that were lucky enough to work in the main offices of the Shinra were very careful not to draw any of the attentions of most of the higher staff for fear of retribution for whatever imagined slights they might be accused of. Hojo was the worst of the lot. He overflowed with insecurities and mental issues. It always seemed that he looked at people with no more regard than a man picking up a slab of meat from the butchers. She have to try to be gone before he showed up. Surely Reeve would understand.

….

"'kay. I'm stuck in a jail with two ex-Shinra fuckers and one of 'em gone loopy and smashed himself up." Barret grumbled.

"Yeah yeah, I love you too," Cid grumbled back. Vincent had been laid on the bunk and had been unconscious for what had seemed like an hour, but for the two conscious prisoners with no way of telling time, it might have only seemed like hours before they hear any noise on the other side of the door.

"Hey, AVALANCHE scum, hope your ready to talk." a deep gravely voice yelled to them as the heard the keycard sliding though the door.

The door opened. Five heavily armed Shinra guards obviously had been expecting some form of resistance. There was none and quickly the guards learned why. One of the prisoners, the man with the metal claw, was lying on the bench bleeding profusely from his head.

"What tha?" one of the guards shot out. "What's wrong?"

"His damned head's busted open, what do you think is wrong!" Cid yelled back at him. Normally this kind of response would have been returned with a rifle butt to the head, however, the guards were more worried about the bleeding man. They had been given specific instruction not to harm any of them too badly. Especially him. 

"Code 13. Repeat code 13." Of one the guards called off into his hand radio. A different guard drew his weapon and backed Cid and Barret into the corner to keep them out of the way. "Alright, you're bud here's going to get some help. Now tell us what's going on. And I don't want any bullshit."

"He walked over to the wall and slammed his head against it," Cid told him. This was obviously not the response the guard wanted. He showed his disbelief by slamming the but of his rifle into Cid guts. 

"What about you? You going at' tell me what happened?" the guard turned to Barret.

"I ain't gonna tell you Shinra punks jackshit," Barret asserted.

"You want some of what your friend got?" the guard raised his rifle to strike. Another guard grabbed the barrel preventing it from moving anywhere.

"You sure you what to go beating on these guys, Sarge? We're going to have enough trouble with the skinny guy." The man identified as Sarge lowered his weapon but the hardened grimace on his face only illustrated his distaste with the idea. 

Two more guards rushed into the room followed by an elderly woman and a boy who looked to be in his mid to late teens. They both wore long white coats, rubber gloves, and goggles. The boy carried a bag. Neither of them said anything but went straight to Vincent. The boy opened the bag up and pulled out a small spray bottle, some tape, and gauze. He pulled off Vincent's head band and pushed back his hair. Then he sprayed and wiped off the wound as best as he could and quickly bandaged it. He looked up towards the woman for approval but she frowned. She then reached into the bag and pulled out a heavier bandaged and wrapped it around Vincent's head.

"Well, you going to make yourself useful or not?" she said to the guards. "Help me get him to the infirmary." the boy lifted Vincent up and wrapped Vincent's arm around his head. Another guard did the same with Vincent's clawed arm. Two of the guards followed with weapons drawn.

"You'll get yours," Sarge threatened Barret as he closed the door. Barret's expression never changed.

Reeve looked at the pHs AVALANCHE used. He sat there for a moment with his finger over the send button. It was one of those moments were he wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing or not. More and more he had faces these sort of tribulations. Even if it was the right thing, it still didn't feel good. He turned on a small device that he had been made for him so he could use Cait Sith's voice without activating the robot itself. Finally he pushed the button.

Reeve sat there for a minute as listening to it ring. For a moment, he thought about hanging back up. It rang several times. More so than it should have. Maybe nobody was paying attention to it. Finally there was an answer.

"Hello," Red XIII's voice came from across the other end of the line.

"Hey, Red! What's up? Doesn't any body answer the phone these days?" Reeve easily sunk into the levity of Cait Sith.

"Sorry about that. Tifa and Yuffie are having another one of there spats."

"Ooh. Do tell," Reeve continued.

"Let's just say, leaving these two together wasn't the greatest idea in the word. I think Yuffie's trying to get on her nerves as much as possible. Right now Tifa's actually trying to chase her down on crutches. That's why they didn't answer the phone. And me? Well, the lack of opposable thumbs sometimes limits what I can do." Red chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess it would," he laughed. "How'd you answer then?"

"Pushed it down onto the floor and tapped the button with my claws. So, Why'd you call?"

"Just checking in. Seeing if everything's alright,"

"Actually it's not. Hurry up and get back here. Please." Red laughed a little bit. Reeve did the same.

"How about Cloud and Aeris. What's up with them?"

"Haven't heard from them."

"I'm sure they're alright."

"Yeah, Cloud strikes me as the kind of person who can take care of himself. Unless of course the Shinra actually caught them."

"Trust me. If the Shinra had Cloud or Aeris, I'm sure I would've overheard some commotion about it," for once Reeve wasn't lying to his friend. It made him feel a tiny fraction better.

"Ah yes, your man on the inside. Who is it exactly, if you don't mind me asking?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," a light flicked on Reeve's desk, the signal that his secretary was calling him. "Listen I have to go right now. Vincent and Cid send there love."

"Hmmmph. I'm sure they do," Red XIII said. Reeve hung up and switched his line to intercom.

"Yes, Em?" reeve spoke into the machine.

"Reeve? Is that you? What's wrong with your voice?" she asked. Reeve quickly removed the Cait Sith simulator, as he liked to call it.

"Nothing. Go ahead."

"Professor Hojo is here to see you," She said.

"Send him right in." Reeve told her and before he could even switch off the device, Hojo walked through the doors to his office. Hojo looked around as he walked in. he was rarely ever in Reeve's office and from his expression didn't much care for it.

"What is it?" Hojo said coldly without bothering to take a seat.

"Actually, I have a few things to ask you if it's not too much trouble," as soon as Reeve started talking Hojo's expression changed. previously he had worn a look of utter distain. Now his expression was a worn tolerance, much like you would see on someone who had to listen to a four year's imaginative excuses.

"Make it quick. My time is quite valuable," without asking permission, Hojo picked up Reeve's Cait Sith simulator and started to examine it.

"You know how I've been working as a spy with AVALANCHE?" Reeve started.

"Yes yes. Do continue." he said in a tone what suggested he wouldn't care if Reeve was working as a spy, an assassin, or even leading the organization. Hojo flipped the simulator between his fingers

"I wanted to know some information on one of the ones we have captured. That way I could go back…,"

"Anyone in particular?" Hojo glared suspiciously.

"I'm curious about the man who claimed to be the former Turk. I want to know who he is. If he's who he says he is, he should be about your age, but instead he looks to be in his twenties." Reeve quickly spit the words out as fast as he could so neither his own nervousness or Hojo would stop him.

"You might want to mind to your own business, " Hojo said. He turned his back to Reeve and took a few steps away. "But you're curious. You never did know when to shut up and stay out of things. Let me just give you a warning. The man is dangerous. Perhaps more so than you'll ever know. Is that all?"

"Err…anything you could tell me? About the others I mean. How about Aeris?" quickly as he said it he realized Hojo might not know her by name. "The Ancient," he added.

Hojo turned back to face Reeve. His face practically glowed with superiority. Reeve actually did something right. Hojo was more than happy to lecture him on a subject were he was the sole expert. If he got Hojo talking enough, he might be able to worm a some details about Vincent out as well.

"Never thought I'd end up rottin' in a cell," Barret muttered.

"You won't. They'll take us out back and shoot us as soon as they figure the political spin to put on it," Cid grumbled back. 

"Nice. How ya' figure the others are doin'?" Barret asked

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Cid shot back at him. "What ya' think I'm going to yell really loud and they'll hear me?"

"Hell, calm down now. Just askin'," 

"Well don't." Cid and Barret sat there for a few more moments in silence. Before Cid finally asked a question. "What do you figure the deal with Vincent is?"

"The guy's up at' something'. It ain't like him to just go and flip out like that,"

"I know. There ain't no telling what with that guy though. He's a deep one. I notice you haven't said anything about Cait Sith since we got thrown in here."

"Fuck him. Next time I see that little shit I'm breakin' him in half." Barret slammed his fist hard against the wall. "Damned Shinra piece of shit!"

Vincent was lying on the medical cart. They had quickly gone to work on him. His headband had been removed and the wound cleaned with a mild disinfectant. Fortunately, he hadn't needed any stitches. Currently, his headband had been replaced with heavy bandages and he was left shackled to the table for further observation.

This had all been done before he regained consciousness, because if he had come around they would have needed to sedate him. With no medical records and no knowledge of what he might be allergic to, this could be a very dangerous prospect. As it was, they were just glad that he wasn't much of a bleeder. It was a rather deep wound and infection still seemed possible.

Of the two doctors who had come to see Vincent and take him away, the older female, a woman named Cammings, had left to go down to the medical station on ten floors down to pick up some additional paperwork that they had lacked at her station. That left the younger male doctor, a man named Rhoader watching over the patient with three lower ranking Shinra guards.

Although they weren't too concerned with watching him. None of them were really doing much watching. There was nothing to watch. Vincent was still out cold and handcuffed to the table. Shroder was playing solitaire on the computer waiting for Cammings's return. The guards alternated in talking amongst themselves about women they thought were hot and the latest sports scores. Rhoader stayed out of their conversation. He already had his opinion on who was attractive. Cammings was the reason he had asked to transfer to this section of the medical division. Not that he had ever tried to get her attention. He doubted she'd care anyway. He went back to playing his digital card game while he waited for his partner to return. Rhoader was currently five wins out of twelve games and bored out of his mind. With nothing else to do, he got up to look at his only patient.

When Vincent had first been wheeled in, he wondered why nobody had bothered to disarm him. It wasn't until he tried for himself that he realized the metal claws were actually part of the man. Rhoader could only wonder why anyone would have such a prosthetics. The exteriors design was quite primitive but if it worked like he thought it did, then they had to have used some rather extensive nerve grafting. Rhoader bent over to look closely at it.

That was when Vincent's head slammed hard into his own forehead. Rhoader stumbled backwards both in pain and shock. Vincent tried to move further. His good arm was shackled to the table and his mechanical arm was still inoperable. He had hoped that it's deactivation was based solely in the cell. 

Vincent stood up and rolled off the cart. He walked over to the cowering doctor, dragging the wheeled table drug behind him. Rhoader was to shocked to scream. Vincent stepped down onto the doctor's hand. "Make one sound and you die," Vincent said to him. "Now do you have the keys to the handcuffs?" Rhroader shook his head no. "Pity." The former Turk quickly raised his leg and smashed his metal boots against the man's head. There was a loud cracking sound and the doctor lay there unmoving. Vincent didn't know if he was dead, nor did he care.

"Halt!" one of the guards said as they ran into the room. Vincent calmly walked towards their leader. "Halt! Didn't you hear me! I said halt!" he cried out again. Vincent smiled. He had heard quite fine. However there were other voices he was listening to at the moment. They were much less civil. The guard produced his tazer and struck Vincent with him sending enough electricity to drop a man twice Vincent's side. 

The former Turk fell to his knees. His arm nearly jerked out of it's socket, still being attacked to the table by handcuffs. It had been quite a while since he had been hurt this much. His arm was killing him and his body was near the point of collapse form the earlier blood loss and the more recent shock.

Things were starting to look up. 

"Hit me," Vincent told the man. "Hard." Vincent approached the guard again with a twisted grimace on his face. The guard could have sworn he hard heard a growling sound. He wasted no time in sending another fierce shock through Vincent. Vincent fell to the floor into spasms. He thrashed so violently, it seemed as if he would break his own back.

"Quite fascinating." Reeve said to break into Hojo's tirade. "You'd never suspect anything like that by looking at her and frankly, I hadn't given the matter much thought."

"Precisely. Hence, what I said about the evolutionary advantages," Hojo smiled at him. For the first time since he had met the man, Hojo actually seemed happy. A good happy, much different than his normal "I'm just imagining what I could do to you in my lab" creepy form of happy he normally showed. This was a "I'm smarter than you are and you are willing to admit it," kind of happy. 

"If it's not to much of a bother, I'd like access to some of your reports," Reeve said. "The dumbed down versions of course,"

"I'll have to think about that one," Hojo seemed to clam back up. Reeve sensed it as well. In the Professor's mind there was nothing more valuable than knowledge. Talking about something was a different matter than passing along your files. Reeve couldn't help but wonder how much useful information he would get anyway. Hojo was notorious for altering his records.

Before Reeve could reach any decision in the matter, Hojo's pHs rung. He pulled it out from where it had been clipped to his belt and spoken into it. "Professor Hojo, speak," Reeve had no clue who he was talking but Hojo's expression quickly changed from calm to furious. "Contain it until I arrive," he shouted into the pHs line. "If anything happens, I'll personally have your heads." Hojo jammed the device into his pocket and rushed to the door without saying anything to Reeve.

Reeve waited a few brief moments and then followed Hojo out the door . "Em," he addressed his secretary "If Hojo comes back, have him wait and if anyone asks for me, regardless how long I'm gone, tell them I'll be right back."

The creature that was once Vincent charged through the guards. They were pointing some metal devices at him, they would flash and he'd feel stings of pain. A more intelligent creature would have realized that he was being shot, but the Galian beast was by no means intelligent, It was the exact reason Vincent had tried to focus his transformation into this particular beast. The former Turk still had enough will power to steer the creature in the direction he wanted.

The Galian was becoming annoyed. The humans had opened their mouths and made loud noises at him again. Then they pointed things at him and hurt him. He ripped his claws through the walls as a show of strength. Surely they would realize their metal hurting things weren't as powerful as he was. Some of the humans turned and ran. Another pulled out a small metal box and made more mouth sounds into it. The Galian paid no mind to this. He blew his fiery breath across the crowd of humans, reducing them to no more than ash. It was such a waste of good meat.

The beast charged through the halls. It didn't exactly know where it was going but somewhere in the back of its mind, it felt a voice directing it. When humans got in it's way, the beast would kill them. Sometimes he would burn them, sometime he would smash them against the wall, sometimes he would rip them apart. That was the problem with humans. They broke too easily. Still, they could be rather tasty, especially the smaller ones with the bumpy chests. They were so much chewier. The Galian rushed around the corner and found it's self face to face with a small squad of armed guards. If the creature understood what smiling was, he would have.

As Hojo ran towards the security center, Reeve made his way to the scientist's lab. Despite his conversation with the him, Reeve had really learned nothing of practical value. Hojo had no secretary, he was fortunate enough for that, but all the real data he needed would be highly encrypted. Fortunately, Reeve had the solution for that too. Reeve used his ID card in the scanner to access the inner lab. 

"Ready, pal?" Reeve said to the robot he carried in his arms. "You realize this might hurt a little bit, right?"

"Let's just see what he has under up his sleeves," Cait Sith's response came. With that, Reeve opened the back panel on Cait Sith's head and rerouted several of the wires. Knowing that Cait wasn't really alive didn't change the fact that it looked like the cat was in pain. When he had finished his makeshift wiring job inside Cait's head, he hooked a small jack from the robot cat to a laptop on Hojo's desk. Cait Sith's eyes flashed and began to roll back on themselves, giving him the look of some one possessed.

Reeve pulled his pHs back out of his pocket and used the speed dial to reach his office. "Em, I don't care how you do it, but I need you to find some way of letting me know before hand when Professor Hojo's coming back to the lab. Call me when he starts to head this way. Do that for me, and I'll take you out to dinner sometime."

Hojo tried to ran toward the security center. He began gasping for breath before he had even made it halfway. His body was too old and frail for such exertion. The professor leaned against the wall. His heart was pounding way to fast. The thought that he could have easily given the access code to a security force member had never crossed his mind. He wanted to be the one to hurt Vincent. He had to be the one to do it.

He began walking again when he lungs stopped aching so much and broke into small slow sprints when he had the energy. He was almost to the elevator when he turned a corner and found himself face to face with a large humanoid beast covered in blood.

Some little voice inside Galian told him that this scrawny man was a very bad man.

Coming Next Chapter: Hello, it's me


	16. 16 Hello, it's me

(For Disclaimer, refer to chapter 1)

Chapter 16: Hello, It's me

He looked down at the pHs. Either Strife, or the girl he was with had dropped it when they broke camp and left. He had been carrying it for the last few days, up until now; he had been hesitant to use it. Frankly, boredom was the only reason he toyed with the idea now.

His finger hovered over the redial button. Maybe he was getting his hopes up for nothing. Whoever called last might not have any idea how to get a hold of Strife. He hadn't had much use for hope in the last few years. No use getting lost in it now.

He hit the button and listened to the device ring. 

"Hello," a female voice greeted him.

"Hello," he said back.

"Who is this?" she asked him. He wasn't quite sure who this person was or what relation they might have to Strife, if any. He tried his luck.

"An old friend of Strife's," he told her. It wasn't a complete lie. "Can I ask who I'm talking to?"

"Tifa Lockheart. You're a friend of Cloud's?"

"If we're talking about a spiked blonde, then yeah." He couldn't remember Strife's first name. He probably wouldn't have remembered Strife's last either if it hadn't been sewed on his uniform.

"Yup, that's Cloud. So why are you calling, Mr…" she paused stretching out the fact that he had never said his name. If Cloud remembered him, it would be best not to introduce himself. 

"Riste," He said. It was the brand name of his left boot. "You see, Strife accidentally left his pHs with me," he told Tifa.

"I guess that would explain why…hold on a minute, Yuffie get back in here right now and put that back! … Sorry, as I was saying, that would explain why he hasn't called in lately. So how are they doing, if you don't mind me asking."

"They seemed okay. Actually I was wondering how I could get the pHs back to him. He didn't exactly say where he was going,"

"He didn't? Well, I guess it's not that hard to imagine. It's kind of strange that Aeris didn't though,"

Aeris must be the girl in the pink dress, he thought. Another name he couldn't quite place.

"She was asleep. So where were they headed, do you know?"

"The Golden Saucer," Tifa told him. "But they shouldn't be there that long. They might even be on their way back by now."

"Well that does create a bit of a problem, Is there anyway I could go and drop it off or somewhere I could meet him?"

There was a pause. Whoever Tifa was she seemed quite hesitant to say. Finally she agreed and told him her location. He hung up without so much as a goodbye.

"Yeah yeah. A girl can't have any fun around here, can she?" Yuffie asked as she walked back into the room. She tossed Tifa's fighting gloves over into the corner. "I just wanted to try them out. Bite my head off, why don't you?"

"Yuffie, those are …," Tifa stopped. Yuffie expression matched exactly what Tifa was feeling. They were worried about their friends and starting to feel stir crazy. "Never mind. Are you feeling alright?"

"What exactly is that supposed to be?" Yuffie said shaking her fist.

"You're bored out of your mind aren't you?"

"Oh yeah. You couldn't be more right if you tried." Yuffie sighed

"Well, um… you want to talk?"

"It's bad enough that you've just laid there feeling sorry for yourself since you got hurt, but I'm not going to just sit here and listen to some lecture." before Tifa could respond, Yuffie stormed out of the room.

Tifa laid still on her bed. She had just wanted to talk. She didn't mean anything by it. Worse, Yuffie had been right. She had just been feeling sorry for herself lately. Tifa grabbed the crutches Red XIII had gotten for her. As she grasped them she stopped. Knowing Yuffie, the girl was going to be gone for quite a while. Even then, there wasn't going to be much use apologizing. She'd already done too much talking and not action enough.

Coming next Chapter: The Lady in Red


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